University of California Berkeley
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
THE MASTER MIND OF A CHILD OF SLAVERY
AN APPEALING LIFE STORY RIVALING IN ITS PICTURESQUE
SIMPLICITY AND POWER THOSE RECOUNTED ABOUT THE
LIVES OF WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN. A BIOGRAPHICAL
TALE DESTINED TO LIVE IN HISTORY AND FURNISH AN
INSPIRATION FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS
A Human Interest Story Depicting
THE LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS
of a
GREAT LEADER OF A RISING RACE
Showing what one man born in slavery and obscurity accomplished by
perseverance and sheer force of personal effort, which shines
forth as a Beacon Light for every Colored American and
as a guide to further development
By FREDERICK E. DRINKER
EDITOR AND AUTHOR
SPLENDIDLY ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES
ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONG
RESS, IN THE YEAR 1916 BY GEORGE W.
INT RON, IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN
OF CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON, 0. C.
INTRODUCTION.
THE ESTIMATE OF MEN.
THE truth of that homely axiom, " Great Oaks From Little
Acorns Grow/' finds no better exemplification than in
the life of Booker T. Washington. So much has been
written about this extraordinary negro educator, who rose from
obscurity, that it is deemed necessary in offering the public this
work to say that it is not presented as a biography, but rather
as a story pointing a moral and carrying with k a lesson for all
mankind to study and heed.
Dr. Washington has contributed much to the literature of
the age, telling the story of his struggles and ambitions in a
characteristic, simple, straightforward and effective manner,
and the world is better for his works. But his very simplicity
and the utter unselfishness which his humble life and training
produced made it impossible for him to " stand without " and
view himself with justice.
The purpose here is to present a faithful picture of Booker
T. Washington, as viewed through the eyes of those " outside "
who watched his rise and studied his work and progress, and
to provide an unprejudiced and unbiased work of some economic
as well as historic value.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER, AND HIS LOWLY
HABITAT.
A NEGRO BABE BORN IN OBSCURITY A CRUDE PLANTATION CABIN HOME
" BOOKER," THE CHILD SLAVE A MOTHER'S PRAYER FOR FREEDOM AN
INSPIRING MESSAGE FREED BUT NOT EQUIPPED A NEW HOME ADOPTS
A GOOD NAME 17
CHAPTER II.
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE WITH A BROOM.
OFF TO HAMPTON, THE NEGRO EDUCATIONAL MECCA A FRIENDLY BOARDWALK'S
SHELTER PSYCHOLOGY OF THE BATHTUB BROTHERS, TOO, START EDUCA
TIONAL CAREERS FEELING THE KUKLUX INFLUENCE A CALL TO TUSKE-
GEB 38
CHAPTER III.
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. BUILDING A SCHOOL FROM
NOTHING.
AN INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNING IN ALABAMA A CHICKEN COOP SCHOOL HOUSE-
LESSONS OF SELF-HELP STUDENTS BUILD THEIR OWN INDUSTRIAL COL
LEGE DR. WASHINGTON ACCLAIMED " COLORED MAN OF CENTUBY " . 58
CHAPTER IV.
A JOB OF MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
SOUTHERN WHITE MEN AID VENTURE INCREASED APPROPRIATION MARKS STATE
APPROVAL AN EXPERIMENTAL FARM SEEKING FUNDS IN THE NORTH
AN EPOCH-MAKING ATLANTA ADDRESS EXPOSITION HAS SIGNIFICANCE
FOR NEGRO RACE 76
CHAPTER V.
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY.
PRAISE FROM GROVER CLEVELAND HONORED BY "OLD" HARVARD CHICAGO
PEACE JUBILEE ORATOR PRESIDENT MCKINLEY SEES TUSKEGEE THE
STRIKING TRIBUTE OF A CABINET OFFICER 95
CHAPTER VI.
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON.
DIGNIFIES INDUSTRIAL TRAINING AS ECONOMIC FACTOR EXPERIENCE MEETINGS
FOR NEGRO FARMERS TEACHING THRIFT TO ENTIRE COMMUNITIES LAND
OWNERSHIP BASIS FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE 108
v
vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
WAS ONCE VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.
WORTH BUT LITTLE AS SLAVE, BUT OF INESTIMABLE VALUE AS FREEDMAN
CONSTRUCTIVE MEASURES FOR RACE BETTERMENT THE NEGRO BUSINESS
LEAGUE A PIONEER IN REAL UPLIFT WORK RURAL SCHOOL SUPER
VISION 118
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CAPSTONES OF FAME.
WHEN HE DINED WITH ROOSEVELT AT THE WHITE HOUSE BIG ENOUGH FOR A
CABINET PORTFOLIO PAVING WAY FOR RACE TO WIN ON MERIT A EU
ROPEAN VISIT ENTERTAINED BY QUEEN VICTORIA . 129
CHAPTER IX.
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS OF DR. WASHINGTON.
CRITICISM FOR JACK JOHNSON A PROTEST AGAINST "LYNCH LAW" TELLS OF
FIRST NEGRO COTTONSEED OIL MILL THE NEGRO CHILDREN IN THE
SOUTHERN PUBLIC SCHOOLS His WRITINGS 141
CHAPTER X.
A MAN AMONG MEN.
PROMINENT WHITE MEN'S AID FOR TUSKEGEE A POINTED COMMENT ON SOUTH'S
FOREIGN MISSIONS BUDGET HELPING POOR SOUTHERN WHITES A HELP
FOR NEGRO SOME ADVANCE IDEAS IN EDUCATION 155
CHAPTER XI.
THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.
LOVED His FIRESIDE FOND OF TELLING PLANTATION STORIES AND NEGRO
FOLK-LOREFRIENDS BUILD HIM A NEW HOUSE HOG-RAISING A HOBBY
His LAST ILLNESS EIGHT THOUSAND AT His BIER 162
CHAPTER XII.
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH WRIT IN WORDS OF GOLD.
A UNANIMOUS PRESS PRAISES His WORK His LIFE A LESSON FOR EVERY
BOY DID NOT SCOLD WHITES AND TOOK REBUFFS WITH PHILOSOPHY
INDUSTRY AND THRIFT His GOSPEL 173
CHAPTER XIII.
IN MEMORIAM.
EVANGELISTIC SERVICES TO HONOR MEMORY PROPOSE MONUMENT TO HIM
ADVOCATES WASHINGTON'S PLAN FOR HAITI PENDING THE APPOINTMENT
OF His SUCCESSOR 192
CONTENTS. vii
CHAPTER XIV.
AND IT CAME TO PASS.
OTHER LIVES THAT EXEMPLIFY DR. WASHINGTON'S TEACHINGS THE PIONEER
BISHOP THE FIRST NEGRO PHYSICIAN A MODERN POET A POOR DAY
LABORER WHO TURNED INVENTOR THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF NEGRO . 200
CHAPTER XV.
THE SPIRIT THAT GOES MARCHING ON.
A REMARKABIE MEMORIAL MEETING HONOR WASHINGTON'S MEMORY IN BIG
WANAMAKER STORE 1500 NEGROES AND WHITES IN HOLIDAY SHOPPING
CENTRE PROMINENT WHITE CLERGYMEN AND LAYMEN EULOGIZE EDUCA-
~OR 210
CHAPTER XVI.
WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES
STILLED RESTLESS PEOPLES COLONIZATION ATTITUDE LAND OWNERSHIP AN
ANCHOR A POLICY TO DEVELOP NEGRO'S STABILITY THE EDUCATIONAL
METHOD THAT BROUGHT RESULTS EARLY EDUCATION OF NEGRO. . . 218
CHAPTER XVII.
A LESSON IN HISTORY.
THE NEGRO'S PROUD ANCESTRY A PURE RACE THE BLACK KINGDOM A
FAMOUS QUEEN THE SPANISH SLAVES THE DUTCH VESSEL AND THE
NEGRO IN VIRGINIA 225
CHAPTER XVIII.
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
His POLICY FOR RACE DEVELOPMENT COMPARED WITH THAT OF DR. DuBois
RECEIVES CRITICISM WITH QUIET HUMOR AN INCOMPARABLE LEADER
SAYS NEGRO WRITER 234
CHAPTER XIX.
THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
WHAT THE NEGRO FACES SOME CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM A UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA REPORT THE PLACE OF THE SKILLED NEGRO WORKER
THE DUTY OF THE NEGRO SET FORTH 249
CHAPTER XX.
AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION.
FUNDS THAT PROVIDE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND STUDY OF THE NEGRO
ROCKEFELLER GIVES MILLIONS STUDY AND TRAINING STRENGTHEN
RACE DEATH RATE DECREASES , . , 264
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
BORN TO MEET A CONDITION SLAVES ONCE WERE HIRED OUT AS ME
CHANICS EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS THE HAMPTON SCHOOL A TYPE . 274
CHAPTER XXII.
EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME.
LEADER REALIZED NECESSITY OF CREATING HOME IDEALS SOME FACTS ABOUI
CITY CONDITIONS THE SORT OF THINGS DR. WASHINGTON WANTEE
NEGROES TO AVOID 2c
CHAPTER XXIII.
EN PASSANT.
DR. WASHINGTON'S OPPOSITION PROOF OF ECONOMIC WORTH VERSUS REC G.
NITION AS A MATTER OF HUMAN JUSTICE Is EXPLOITATION OF NEGRO A
WAR CAUSE ? COLORED LEADER'S EARLY PLEAS FOR JUST NEGRO SUF.
FRAGE LAWS 29
CHAPTER XXIV.
WHERE FALLS THE MANTLE THAT HE WORE?
FINDING A SUCCESSOR TO DR. WASHINGTON DIFFICULT His UNSELFISHNESS
AND DEVOTION TO His RACE No SIMILAR CONDITIONS TO DEVELOP AN
OTHER (< BOOKER." 31]
CHAPTER I.
THE SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER,
AND HIS LOWLY HABITAT.
ABOUT three years before the outbreak of the Civil War,
which was destined to bring about the abolition of
slavery, there was born in a plantation cabin, within the
borders of the famous old State of Virginia, a sturdy- framed
negro boy, out of whose record of achievements the world has
since come to recognize the truth and justice of those words of
Frederick Douglass, the negro statesman and orator, who, in
an impassioned plea for his fellow black men, once said : " Their
day will come, and they will be found in all pursuits, achieving
distinction and showing capabilities which they were never sup
posed to possess."
The instrument to make this prophecy come true was
Booker T. Washington the negro boy of the plantation cabin
who on Sunday, November 14, 1915, died at Tuskegee, Ala
bama, amidst scenes of industrial and educational activity which
under his spell grew in one generation from a little frame
country school into one of the greatest institutions for the
education, training and development of the colored race the
world has ever known.
Throughout all the ages and in every clime mankind has
ever stood ready to acclaim those members of society who by
their deeds of bravery, heroism, sacrifice or individual accom
plishments have shown themselves to be worthy of leadership;
but history offers few life-stories that can serve as a greater
inspiration to struggling humanity than that of the slave babe
who developed into the foremost negro educator and industrial
2-W 17
18 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
trainer of his people, and became the honored friend and con
fident of presidents, statesmen, financiers, educators and philan
thropists.
It was not merely that he won recognition from men in,
every station of life, but that he did so with every presumption
of success against him. There was nothing in his early life,
or in the history of his family, or in his environment which
gave rise to the belief that Booker T. Washington would ever
be more than one of many thousands of ordinary negro boys of
the South. In fact he had little " family/' even as families
might go with those hordes of black men who were brought in
bondage from the shores of Africa, and from whom he des
cended.
HIS PROGENITORS UNKNOWN.
He possessed no pride of ancestry, for he knew little, if any
thing, about his progenitors. It may be that in his veins there
coursed the blood of black forest kings, born to rule, but the
pages of time contain no such records. What little there is
known of his infant history is almost an open book.
The scene of his birth was Franklin County, Virginia, near
a cross-roads post-office called Hale's Ford. His mother was
a slave, and he came into the world, so far as it has been
able to determine, about the year i858. His birth-place was
a typical cabin in the slave quarter of a plantation a one-room,
rough-hewn, board hut, probably sixteen or eighteen feet wide
by twenty feet long. Though the war has passed more than half
a century and many of the famous old plantations of the South
have been rehabilitated since their desolation, here and there in
dell and glade are still to be found remnants of these cabins
which housed the black chattels of the owners of generations
gone.
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 19
Some of them may still be found in that same Virginia in
which " Booker ' first saw the light of day. The rude hut
or cabin boasted of no modern window with crystal panes
through which the warm sun might send its rays to cheer the in
mates when cold winds blew. Square holes cut in the sides of
the weather-beaten board house were truly windows through
which the gentle summer zephyrs blew and the cold blasts of
winter penetrated.
DOOR OF ROUGH BOARDS.
The door of rough boards, held together on the inner side
by battens, hung treacherously upon rusty hinges, forged by
plantation or country blacksmith. It swung wide open in
summer and rattled and banged in the sharp winds of winter in
a pitiful attempt to fill the doorway. But the crude archi
tect of the cabin had given the door a bigger job than it was
capable of filling. Its shortcomings were represented by large
cracks and crevices through which the light of day streamed
into the single room and the cool evening breezes crept.,
At one end of the cabin was fire'place of stone and rough
plaster, blackened by the soot and smoke from many embers.
The grimy maw of the fire-place held an assortment of crane,
pot hooks and hangers, upon which the iron pot or skillet was
wont to hang in the hour of preparing meals.
Somewhere there seems to have been, and still is, an ir
resistible charm about the crude old-fashioned open fire-place
that imparts a distinct air of " hominess " to the most forlorn
and barren cottage. So it was in the plantation cabin where
was born the colored man who was destined to become the
leader of his race.
The cheerful blaze, under the blackened pots, sent its glow
across the hard, packed earthen floor, in the centre of which
20 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
was a large hole covered with boards, that served as a store
house for the family food supply during the winter months, the
principal portion of which consisted of sweet potatoes grown
on the plantation. There was a rough board table, for the
cabin was the cook-house or kitchen for the slave population
of the plantation. There were also a couple of rough wooden
benches and a bunk or bed, but the sleeping quarters for Dr.
Washington tthe " Booker ' of those early days was the
floor, where with an older brother and sister he laid his weary
body down on a straw filled pallet, or a bundle of discarded
clothing, bags or rags.
A CRUDE HUT AND A BIG HOME.
The crude hut stood at some little distance from the
big home of his master, Jones Burroughs. Close beside it
ran the lane, and near one end stood a sturdy tree whose green
foliage cast a gentle shadow over the sloping roof in summer.
There was no accident of fortunate birth to weigh in the
making of this strange child of nature. The white child brought
into the world under a cloud of doubtful parentage finds himself
burdened with what society regards as a handicap, but no one
looked askant at the little negro boy who knew his mother as
Jane, but found no one to answer to the call of " father ;"
though he was known to be a white man.
His identity among the slaves on the plantation was fixed
by the brief name " Booker." Nameless children were part of
the institution of slavery, but unlike " Topsy " of Uncle Tom's
Cabin fame, who " never had no mudder," Booker knew his
mother and in all of his writings described her as the " noblest
embodiment of womanhood with whom I have come in contact,"
and declared that the lessons of virtue and thrift which she in-
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 21
stilled in those early days on the plantation were never for
gotten.
The little Virginia cabin was the home of " Booker '
during those troublesome days just before and during the entire
four-year war which was to make him a free child and send
him into the highways and byways of the world.
He was a serious minded fellow upon whom the burdens of
life began to weigh early. The mutter ings among the slaves
who were filled with hopes for their freedom were not under
standable to " Booker," but one of his earliest recollections
centred around an early morning scene in the humble cabin,
when he awoke to find his mother kneeling in prayer over his
pallet.
LIFTS HER EYES TO HEAVEN IN PRAYER.
Voicing the feelings of thousands of her people held in
bondage she lifted up her eyes to heaven and prayed:
" Oh, Lord, save Massa Lincoln and his armies, so that
we cain be free!"
This, Dr. Washington said, was the first intimation he
had that he was a slave and the incident seemed to mark the
dawn of his intellectual development.
A second incident more vividly impressed upon his child
ish mind the fact that he and his were but human chattels.
The early morning sun painted the rough-hewn cabin a
golden hue and the corn pone baked over the open fire had
satiated the hunger of the negro child who found his way
toward one of the houses in the slave quarter, when he was
startled by the piteous cries of his mother's brother.
" Oh, pray, massa ; pray massa !"
A rawhide thong swept through the morning sun and fell
upon the bared back of the boy's sturdy uncle who was tied like
22 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
some obstreperous animal to a monster tree. The boy did not
stop to inquire the cause of the chastisement. His brown legs
carried him to the safer region of his cabin, but the impression
made upon his tender mind was one that he declared was in
effaceable.
Boys of his age were not usually subjected to the vigorous
punishment meted out to the slaves who aroused their master's
wrath in those ante-bellum days, but they were not relieved
of the hardships that came as a result of the devastation of the
country by the hordes of war.
NEGRO HAS LITTLE TO SACRIFICE.
History is replete with stories of gentle folk who gave or
sacrificed their all in the support of the cause in which they be
lieved. The negro had little to sacrifice, but when " master '
could no longer provide for himself or family, his black " pos
sessions " fared still worse. Beginning his life at this period
when the North and South were entering a bitter struggle, this
particular boy slave the Booker T. Washington of the future
secured little of the world's goods and for a long period of
time his entire wardrobe consisted of a flax or " tow " shirt,
and his single pair of shoes belonged to a crude type of footwear
with wooden soles.
The slave boy has had his place in the world's history in
every age and in every country. His enjoyments have been
restricted to the enjoyments of those around him. In the plan
tation days his playground was the barn-yard, the shed, the
cabin, the corn fields and the wooded land; his playthings
nature's own toys, and on occasions he found opportunity to
listen to the singing of plantation melodies or watch the " white
folk," in the " big house/"
There came a time when the keen eye of the " master '
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 23
saw in " Booker " material to be developed and so it came to pass
that " Jim," the rangy brown horse, found a small brown figure
straddling his back along with a big bag of corn. The boy and
the corn, over which he was custodian, bounced up and down
as the animal jogged over the country road to the mill, and
back again with the corn turned into a golden meal which was
destined to provide pone or corn bread for the " master's "
family and the slaves.
A BELATED SLAVE'S RETURN.
Once a belated slave returning to the plantation from an
adjoining place found a small boy seated beside the road with
the end of a halter strap in his hands. A gentle horse at the
other end of the halter was nibbling the green grass. Beside
the boy lay a large sack of corn-meal. A plaintive voice
wailed :
" The baig dun fall off. Mout yo' help we up wif 'im?"
" Booker " returned to the plantation late that night, tired
and supperless, but the supply of freshly ground meal was not
lost to the " master."
Just what conclusions may be drawn from a study of the
early history of this negro boy by students of psychology, so
ciology and kindred subjects, who on one hand hold that en
vironment is the most important factor in the development of
child character, and on the other that "heredity/' will tell, is
somewhat puzzling to contemplate.
What inherited traits came to him at an age when other
boys were thinking of the immediate pleasure they could get
out of life, to cause him to crave an education? It is true that
in the agitation which came of the abolition movement the
slaves were charged to prepare for their future freedom, and
their conception of what constituted a preparedness for cit-
24 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
izenship was to be able to read and write to be educated.
It was probably this influence which was reflected in his
mother's spirit when she came to support and help him in his
ambitions to secure an education to go to school.
A peep in the open door of the country school, when as an
attendant he carried the books of the " misses " to class, seems
to have been one of the sources of his early inspirations. And
the big event of his boyhood days was marked by the ending of
the war ; when he and his mother, brother and sister were given
their freedom.
SLAVE QUESTION PROBLEMATICAL.
What real knowledge or understanding of the slave ques
tion the boy may have had, or any boy might have at the
age or eight or nine years, is problematical. It is hardly con
ceivable that he had any, but it is certain that a deep impres
sion was made upon the mind of " Booker," when at the close
of the war the slaves were called from their quarters and as
sembled on the plantation in front of the big house to hear read
that immemorial document which formally conveyed to them
the information that they were free to go where they willed.
No such event had previously been recorded in the history
of the world as that which marked his release from bondage.
A whole people set free. Every slave, no matter how ignorant,
had some conception of what the outcome of the war meant
to him. For generations the black men had viewed the con
ditions under which their masters lived. They saw for them
selves, in their freedom, lives of comparative ease and affluence ;
the end of toil and strife. A word of hope lay before them.
Such hopes and views wer$ reflected in the discussions in the
slave quarters, and gave inspiration to " Booker."
Somehow he came to realize that the very process by which
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 25
the information as to the freedom of his people was conveyed
to them the formal reading of document was in itself sig
nificant. That the ability to read was a necessary requisite.
He had no childish books, and there would have been no one to
read them to him had they been part of his coveted posses
sions.
But his attendance at the reading of the document which
gave formal notice of the severance of the ties of bondage gave
him something to think about. It was an incident which fur
ther opened the door for intellectual development. While the
group of slaves gave vent to their long pent up feelings, the boy's
mother bent over him and with deep feeling whispered :
" Honey , the good Lord has answered yo' mammy's
prayer. Mr. Lincoln dun set us free!''
A PERIOD OF REJOICING.
There was a period of rejoicing, followed by a time in
which a readjustment of conditions was effected. Many of
:he slaves were re-employed by their old masters ; some even beg
ged to be allowed to remain in their old places without giving
any consideration to the larger economic problems that con--
fronted them. The boy's mother was not of those who sought
to retain the old relationship. She had become a unit, an indi
vidual, in the scheme of things.
As humble and inconspicuous was his origin , it is none the
less true that the boy was thrown upon his own resources at
a most opportune time. His life proves that he was the type
of man who would " find himself " under almost any conditions,
but neither his mother nor those around him could have had any
idea of the situation that would be produced by the liberation
of the negro.
Few realized that the zealousness with which the radical
abolitionists of the North pressed their suit in the interest of
the freed slaves would have a far reaching influence which
would ultimately make the struggle for the black men more dif
ficult. Yet this condition made the need for such men as the
boy was destined to be, more urgent, and when there is a great
need, in some way, Providence always seems to provide it.
The Emancipation Proclamation had been issued as a mili
tary measure, and while slavery had fallen to pieces at the very
touch of President Lincoln's pen, it became necessary later
for Congress to adopt an amendment to the Constitution, by
which slavery was abolished and forbidden.
A STORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD.
The story of this period has been written in blood. The
stain on the page of life was made by the blood of President
Lincoln, whose assassination came as one act of what proved to
have been a conspiracy to overthrow the government, for it is
a notable fact too frequently overlooked that a murderous at
tack was made upon Secretary Seward, of the martyred Presi
dent's cabinet, at the same time that John Wilkes Booth enacted
his part in the diabolical drama in which Mr. Lincoln was sacri
ficed at Ford's Theatre, in Washington.
That the South and the freed negro lost their most power
ful friend and ally in the death of Lincoln is a matter of his
toric record.
He was not vindictive enough to suit the radical abolition
ists and some stern leaders who sought to rule with an iron
hand, nor did the attitude of President Johnson, who was
elevated to the Presidency, meet with the approval of this
element.
When he became the Chief Executive it was feared that
President Johnson would pursue a course of angry retribution
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 27
toward those who had been engaged in the rebellion. As a
matter of fact this is what a large element hoped would be done,
and there were drafted proposed legislation measures which
world arbitrarily elevate the negro to a commanding position.
Not only was it proposed to give him the franchise without
restriction, but it was even planned to confiscate the land of
the white plantation owners and apportion some of their land
among the freed negroes. Congress had, in its growing ani
mosity to President Johnson, taken an attitude of relentless hos
tility to the Confederate Party of the South, while the President
in his efforts to carry out the policy of President Lincoln was
accused of having deliberately turned to favor the partv of
the South.
A VITAL QUESTION TO THE NEGRO.
Briefly, the question which was to have such a great effect
on the future of the country and the negro in particular was
as to whether the plan of reconstruction be of a military or
civil character. The objection to the civil plan was based on
the fear that the enfranchised negroes would form an alliance
with the Republicans of the North and wield a power that
would leave the Southern whites powerless. It was this situa
tion which in the years to follow made more difficult the position
of the negro.
The military plan of reconstruction or reorganization of
the Southern States, which was authorized by an act of Con
gress, had for its feature the division of the ten seceded States
into five military districts, each district under control of a
military governor. These had been appointed and in some of
the territory the service of armed negro soldiers was invoked
in the carrying out of the plan. Fortunately for the future of
the country, President Johnson subsequently issued orders to
28 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
military commanders of the districts which had the effect of
nullifying the whole plan and the Congressional plan of reor
ganization was followed.
But the fact that in some sections armed negroes, pre
viously slaves, had by force of arms attempted to dominate the
plantation owners who had formerly been their masieib, and
that some grave charges of cruelty and barbarity were made
against the negroes, did not add to their welcome into the South
as citizens.
GOVERNMENT FAILS TO PROVIDE FOR NEGRO.
Had the Government provided means for helping the freed
negro, much of the bitterness that grew out of the original
struggle would have ? }en assuaged, but the negro was left to
look after Ms own development and no rosy path was left for
him to follow. The fact that for generations he had been re
garded by a large portion of the Southern people as a creature
that needed no education was a matter of great influence. It
is difficult for a people to change their attitude at a moment's
notice. Established precedent is a thing which is always con
sidered, and so if there was no opposition to the negro in his
attempts to secure an education and better his condition, there
was for a long time little effort made to help him.
The negroes knew nothing of these conditions. In a gen
eral way the slaves had been well cared for, just as a good
farmer cares for his live stock, and they had yet to learn that
their mere freedom from bondage would not give them all that
they had seen in their visions; that they would face opposition,
bitterness, prejudice and hatred, and that laws are fundamen
tally preventive measures and not constructive.
These conditions made urgent the need for leaders among
the negroes, if at the same time they made it more difficult for
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 29
such leaders to win recognition. Certainly the boy who was
to become one of these leaders the foremost of his time
could not have realized the gigantic task that lay before him.
Sometime after his birth his mother had married, and in the
closing days of the war her husband had found his way over the
hills and into the soft coal district of West Virginia. He had
secured work in the salt and coal mines and thither the boy,
with his older brother John, 'his sister Amanda and their
mother, went in the logical course of events.
VIRGINIA LOSES ITS FAVORITE SON.
Virginia was to know " Booker " no more as its son. The
plantation cabin was abandoned. A rickety old wagon drawn by
two mules served as a conveyance to transport the little family
and their few possession over the dusty roads and ridges intq
the adjoining State. Their destination was the little town of
Maiden, in Kanawha County, West Virginia.
Here again can be traced the influence of environment in
the life of the boy. He entered an atmosphere of industrialism
where direct material reward came as the result of working with
the hands. The step-father of the boy was already employed
in a salt furnace and by his earnings had been able to finance the
journey of his wife and step-children.
There was no restriction as to child labor in those far gone
days and " Booker " and his older brother soon found them
selves at work in the furnaces or mines. This was their pri
mary school of industrial training. Show a child how he can
help himself and he is quick to grasp the situation. The lessons
the boy received in this hard school served him all the days of
his life and gave him the inspiration which made of him an
educational pioneer among his people.
Sometime after the little family was settled in a typical
30 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
negro cabin in the town of Maiden, another incident occurred
which influenced the boy's life. There came from the Ohio
River district a colored youth who had a measure of education.
These were stirring times and there was deep interest evinced
by all classes in the news that emanated from Washington and
the centers of information North and South.
One day on his way to work " Booker " came upon the
colored youth who had had the advantage of a meagre education,
reading to a group of workers. The colored youth sat upon
a box, surrounded by a considerable number of negroes of all
ages. There came to the boy a memory of the reading of that
final decree which made him free.
DISCUSSES A STRONG EDUCATIONAL DESIRE.
On his return home he discussed with his mother and his
step- father the means by which he might be taught to read. It
is part of his life-record that he always credited his mother
with an earnest desire to aid him in his efforts to secure an ed
ucation.
' Mammy," he said to her, in his childish earnestness, " Ah
wants to read like dat colo'd boy."
This appeal was answered by his mother securing for him
an old primary " speller," over which he pondered and studied
at odd moments while at work and about home. The rela
tionship between industrial efficiency and intellectual attain
ments was at this formative period in his career brought vividly
to his attention in the furnace where his step-father was em
ployed.
It was observed by the boy that the barrels of salt were
marked with large figures and letters and he learned that these
markings were used to check up the work and the men, and that
the barrels handled by his step-father were all marked with the
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 31
figures " eighteen/' so that the number which passed through
his hands could be checked. These barrels served as what might
be termed a supplementary text book. " Booker " learned to
read the numbers and understand something of their signi
ficance.
About this time the necessity for securing education so that
they might be able to make their way became a burning issue
with the colored people, and a colored soldier who had received
some education and found his way into the Kanawha Valley
was induced to start a school or conduct some classes. The
question of education became a general subject of discussion.
Here again " Booker's " ambition was fired, and as is often
the case, some difficulty which he encountered in securing per
mission or at least the time to attend the sessions of the school
only intensified his desires.
THE BOY'S VALUE AS A WAGE EARNER.
The boy's value as a wage earner was the obstacle to his
attending school. The need for money was such that his step
father did not feel that he could spare him from work, and again
there arose a situation which showed its influence in later years.
The boy who was to become the negro educator of the future
learned the value of the night school.
The manner in which he met situations and the incidents
of his life at this period reflect the spirit which enabled him
to make such remarkable progress under adverse circumstances.
They reveal an ability to adapt to unusual conditions; show
that he was ingenious, persevering and quick to take advantage
of an opening. Also that he possessed foresight a vision
which directed his efforts into the channels through which he
was best able to attain success.
He had no false pride; nothing to deter him from doing
that which was set before him. Nothing within himself stood
in the way of his realizing something of his consuming ambi
tion. When he could not attend day school, he induced his
mother and step-father to arrange for him to attend night
classes. The little speller was mastered. A little later he
managed to gain an opportunity to attend day school, and in
this connection two incidents of his boyhood career furnish an
interesting view of his characteristics.
The recital of these incidents is as important to the telling
of his life-story as the " hatchet and cherry tree " incident is to
the life of Washington, the Father of His Country; or the " rail-
splitting " incident is to that of Lincoln, the Emancipator.
JUST PLAIN " BOOKER."
A small negro boy did not count for much in the ante-bellum
days, and up to the time when his " schooling " actually began,
the boy who was to become a leader among his people was just
plain " Booker." Who he might be had never had any signifi
cance in his scheme of things. He had never asked, nor had his
interest been aroused by any inquiries as to his antecedents.
He was somewhat perturbed, therefore, upon entering school 1
to find that the pupils when called upon to give their names for
enrollment had a quota of at least two names a Christian and
surname.
it
What is your name?" queried the colored school teacher.
The boy knew the story of Washington. It had been
handed down through all the circles of slavery, and Washington
was a Virginian. More timorous lads might have hesitated,
but not so in his case.
" Booker Washington," he said, giving the familiar name
by which he was known and taking to himself that other proud
est name in history.
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 33
Afterwards, according to his own story, he learned that on
his birth his mother had named him Booker Taliaferro. There
upon he revised his name and became Booker Taliaferro Wash
ington.
Thus there came into being the second Washington in his
tory, concerning which fact Andrew Carnegie once made the
comment that history would sometime tell of two Washingtons
one white, the other black both fathers of their peoples.
The incident of his naming also called forth the comment
from Ambassador Choate, who, on introducing the negro edu
cator in the height of his career, said :
PRIVILEGE OF CHOOSING HIS NAME,
" Dr. Washington is one of the few Americans who has
been granted the privilege of choosing his own name, in the
exercise of which privilege he very naturally selected the very
best in the-list."
But it was years before these things were to come to pass.
He must first work out his destiny in the mines and furnaces and
complete his education. The Commonwealth provided no text
books for the pupils and, there was not available to those in his
circumstances any wide choice of books.
The Bible has always occupied a conspicuous place in the
educational development of people and it served well in the Kan-
awha Valley. It is a matter of historic fact that many negroes
first learned to read that they might be able to peruse the Bible
and study the Word of God.
The Bible came into the life of young Washington of a
Sunday, when a God-fearing old colored man found him playing
marbles on the unpaved streets of Maiden with some other boys,
and chided him for not attending Sunday School. The ven
erable man told the boys about the Sunday School preached a
3-W
34 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
wayside service and so influenced them that Washington at
least abandoned his marbles and found his way to the place of
worship, where in later years he became a teacher.
Another incident, which Dr. Washington himself related
in a somewhat apologetic manner, referred to his strenuous
efforts to obtain the coveted opportunity to attend the regular
day school in Maiden. He was still working in the saltfurnace
and had secured permission to attend the school sessions with
the understanding that he arise early and perform part of his
day's work before the school opened.
The school house was at some distance from the furnace
and young Washington found it difficult to complete his work
and reach the school house in time for his lessons.
Dr. Washington in relating the incident said:
YIELDS TO STRONG TEMPTATION.
" To get around the difficulty I yielded to a temptation for
which people may condemn me. There was a clock in the office
of the furnace by which the hundreds of men regulated their
working hours. In some way I conceived the idea of turning
the hands from the half -past-eight mark up to the nine-o'clock
mark. This I continued to do until the furnace boss dis
covered there was something wrong and locked the clock in a
case."
This incident might be regarded by some as furnishing
ground for the belief that there was a tendency to deceive, and
Dr. Washington was not proud of the fact ; but the vital thing
is that it again made manifest the anxiety which the youth felt
about his education, and that he had a determination to con
tinue his studies, in view of which the results make it apparent
that the little disregard of the ordinary code of ethics is insig
nificant. As a matter of fact it would be strange if he were not
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 35
guilty of many minor violations, since the influences that were
at work around him were not such as to inspire high ideals.
During his employment in the furnaces and in the soft
coal mines, his attendance at school was somewhat irregular.
Now he received instruction from a teacher at night ; again he
was able to attend the day sessions of the regular school. Some-
times he went to night-school, but always he continued to study.
Sometimes, when after considerable effort, with the assistance
of his father and mother he had secured the services of what
might be termed a tutor to instruct him after working hours, he
found that the teacher knew little, if anything, more than he
did.
ANOTHER STEP IN THE MARCH OF PROGRESS.
Another step in the march of progress was marked at the
end of a period of approximately seven years by the employment
of young Washington as a house-boy in the home of General
Lewis Ruffner, owner of the furnace and salt mine in which he
had been laboring.
Here again the effect of " industrial training " was felt
by young Washington. Other boys who had preceded him in
the position which he now secured through the efforts of his
mother, had remained on the job but a short time. They had de
clared Mr. Ruffner a hard " task-master." Young Washing
ton was engaged at a wage of $5.00 a month.
The difficulties of the job proved to be a matter of doing
the work properly; and Mrs. Ruffner was particular. Dr.
Washington in his remininscences says that he found the place
trying, so much so that he once ran away and secured a job
on a river steamer as waiter, but the captain of the boat, bound
for Cincinnati, found that he knew nothing about waiting.
When he returned from the steamer he went back to Mrs,
36 SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER.
Ruffner with whom he remained for several years. There was
no relief from hard work for young Washington, now that he
was out of the mines and furnace.
He found that Mrs. Ruffner demanded a carefully kept
lawn; a well-attended garden, from which he sold vegetables
to the residents of the village. His training in this school of
life gave him an insight into the best manner of living, in its
broader sense. Mrs. Ruffner was a careful housekeeper and
he learned to be orderly under her direction. The sale of
fruit and vegetables from the Ruffner place also gave him some
valuable experience in the markets.
After he had impressed his employer with his earnestness,
there came a time when he was permitted to again attend the day
sessions of school, and Mrs. Ruffner aided him in his efforts
to secure an education.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "BOOKER" AND OTHER BOYS.
Just as this point is marked in no uncertain degree the
difference between Booker T. Washington and other colored
boys. Thousands of youths in a similiar situation have served
as house boys, attendants and servants. But young Washing
ton's ambitions and vision carried him beyond this. His work
at the Ruffner home and in the mines were but preparatory to
his future life-work and training.
During his employment for a short period in the coal mines
he had heard some miners discussing the negro problem and ex
press opinions about Hampton Institute, an industrial school
at Hampton, Virginia.
The thing about this conversation that stirred young
Washington was the fact that the men said it was a school where
young colored men and women were admitted. Here he saw
visions of securing the sort of an education he craved. Forth-
SLAVE CHILD WHO BECAME A LEADER. 37
with he began making plans to enter that now famous institu
tion.
Again he sought the aid of his mother in his ambitions, and
she responded. His step-father, too, and older brother John,
appreciated his positoin and set about making it possible for him
to realize his hopes. The family purse was not large, but in
quiry brought the information that an industrious youth might
be given opportunity to work out part of his board at the school.
This knowledge furnished the inspiration for the final decision,
and Maiden was to lose the ambitious colored youth for a time.
CHAPTER II.
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE WITH A BROOM.
THE picture which is provided of the promising young
negro in October, 1872, is that of a poorly clad, some
what gaunt youth, tramping or riding over ridges and
across part of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, on his way to
Richmond. His total wealth was insufficient to pay his fare
by stage or railroad to his destination, even had there been a
through service. The total distance from the Kanawha Valley,
left in the distance, to Hampton, is upward of five hundred
miles.
Young Washington had never been at any great distance
from his cabin homes, and he had not had any opportunity to
face some of the embarrassments which the negro was destined
to encounter. The traveler, after a journey over mountains
and hills, experienced his first shock when at a little road-side
inn where the stage stopped, he found that his color was a bar
to his securing lodgings along with the white passengers who
had made part of the trip in the coach with him.
When at last after several days of traveling he finally
reached Richmond, Virginia, it was evening. He was without
funds and the city with its seven hills held little of promise for
him. He had never been in the city in fact had never been at
any great distance from the lowly cottage of his mother. He
had not the price with which to purchase the simplest sort of a
meal. Here under the blue skies and shining stars he stood
alone, almost under the shadow of the executive headquarters
of that leader of the Confederate movement which was in oppo
sition to the freeing of the slaves, of which he was one. The
38
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 39
old mansion, with its massive pillars in which Jefferson Davis
held forth, was silent and abandoned. A short distance away
was the site of the horrible necessity of the war Libby prison.
On every hand he might have noted things which marked the
course of that terriffic struggle which ultimately brought him
freedom.
Weary he walked the streets until far into the night until
finally hungry and exhausted he found himself at a spot where
the old-fashioned plank side-walk was elevated. The hole under
the board walk suggested a place of sheltered rest, and when he
was sure that no one was watching him, he crawled under the
boards and slept, using his small satchel containing his few
precious belongings, as a pillow.
WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY.
When he awoke it was light and he found that he had
chosen as his place of refuge a spot not far from the banks of
the James River. At a wharf near at hand he saw a vessel from
which was being unloaded pig iron. Strong in the belief that
where there is a will there is a way, young Washington sought
the captain of the boat and asked for work.
His sleep had refreshed him and though he had been long
without food he labored diligently and earned sufficient money
with which to buy breakfast. So satisfactory was his work that
the captain continued to employ him, and for a number of days
young Washington labored and saved that he might have suffi
cient funds to carry him to Hampton, less than one hundred
miles away. As a matter of economy he continued to sleep
under the friendly board walk each night while in the city.
His labors on the wharf having brought him enough money
to pay his fare to Hampton, he bade the captain farewell;
started on his interrupted trip, and arrived without further
40 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
difficulty. His store of wealth, Dr. Washington said, consisted
at that time of precisely fifty cents. Ordinarily that is not an
amount of money that would encourage a youth without friends
to face the heads of an educational institution, where a charge
is made for tuition and board. But young Washington did
not propose that a little thing like the lack of capital should
interfere with his plan.
With scarcely any preliminaries he sought the school and
gazed with admiration upon what to him was the greatest in
stitution in the world. His eager eyes saw a somewhat plain
but substantial brick building, three stories high.
A THING OF BEAUTY TO HIS IMAGINATION.
To the boy in ordinary circumstances there is nothing par-<
ticularly inspiring or unusual about the type of building upon
which young Washington's gaze fell at Hampton, but to him
it was a thing of beauty which stirred his imagination. It was
as though some fairy had waved her wand and out of the brown
earth raised up the place he wished for. His dream had been
crystalized into a reality. He was to go to a school.
Without any preliminary preparations he presented himself
to the head teacher and sought admission and assignment to a
class. Her answer was not assuring. After asking the usual
questions propounded to those who sought entrance, she left him
in fact, without making a definite decision. Other students
were received and passed in and there was a period of suspense
and anxiety.
What if he had made that trying journey for naught.
Surely, he, who had struggled so hard, and who had the self-
confidence and consciousness that he had progressed, was as
worthy as tnose others to whom the doors of opportunity were
opening while he stood on the threshold.
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 41
Again there came the chance for him to meet an unusual
and urgent situation. His speculations came abruptly to an
end. The teacher was addressing him :
" The adjoining recitation room needs sweeping. Take the
broom and sweep it."
That was to be his examination. Could he sweep ? Could
he work? Was he worthy of admittance?
Never had he received an order to perform a task with a
greater degree of confidence and satisfaction. The lessons
he had received from Mrs. Ruffner in Maiden had been thor
ough. He was prepared to take the examination.
BROOM, DUST CLOTH AND CLEANING RAGS.
The broom and dust cloth, or cleaning rags were seized
and seldom has a school room been given a more thorough and
careful cleaning. Desks, benches, tables; every piece of fur
niture, the walls and wood work were gone over with exacti
tude. The young Washington had done his best. He knew
that in a measure his future depended upon the manner in which
he performed his work.
It is not every youth who is called upon to prove his quali
fication for entrance to school or college to matriculate with
a broom but that was the unusual experience of Booker T.
Washington. He passed the entrance examination.
The head teacher was a careful woman. She knew where
to look for dirt, and she proceeded to do so. The corners of
the rooms and places too frequently neglected by cleaners were
examined. When she had finished her inspection the hoped for
decision was pronounced without further delay.
" I guess you will do to enter Hampton Institute."
This was the verbal entrance certificate he received.
Thus was marked one of the climaxes in the history of his
42 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
early efforts to secure an education. Frequently men discover
too late in life that their failure to accomplish worth while things
is due to an effort to fit a round plug into a square hole. In
the case of Dr. Washington, it is significant that he seems never
to have sought to engage in a pursuit for which he was not
fitted. From the beginning he apparently knew what he wanted
to do, and he proceeded to do it. He chased no fleeting rain
bows.
At Hampton Institute he found an environment admirably
suited to his development along logical lines. His early
struggles and work enabled him to appreciate the value of in
dustrial training and education. And if he needed further in
spiration, it was unquestionably provided by the atmosphere at
Hampton.
INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATING NEGROES AND INDIANS.
The Institute, which has for its purpose the education and
training of negroes and Indians, occupies the site of the Hamp
ton Hospital, one of the military hospitals of the Civil War.
It stands on a plantation of several hundred acres, not far from
the spot where the first negro slaves were sold in America, and
on the site of the Indian village of Kecoughtan, from which the
red men were driven by the first white settlers.
The school was started under the auspices of the American
Missionary Association, with General Samuel Chapman Arm
strong in charge, and was originally designed for the educa
tion of the children of ex-slaves, but subsequently opened its
doors to the children of America's red men.
The aim of the institution as specifically set forth by
General Armstrong is " To train selected youth who shall go
out and teach and lead their people, first by example, by getting
land and homes ; to give them not a dollar that they can earn
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 43
for themselves; to teach respect for labor; to replace stupid
drudgery with skilled hands; and to those ends to build up an
industrial system, for the sake not only of self-support and in
telligent labor, but also for the sake of character."
The influence which the years at Hampton had on the
life of young Washington are revealed in the crystalizing of
his ideals in the world-famous institution which he later builded
and left as a monument to his memory Tuskegee Institute.
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL MACHINE.
He learned at Hampton that the most efficient human
machine is that in which mental and physical are developed
together. That genius of mind must accompany capability of
hands. One lesson he learned when he was put to the test of
sweeping the recitation room was that he won because he proved
himself capable of doing things with his hands. Though the
head teacher, Miss Mary F. Mackie, who gave him the test did
not say so, she might have told him that the ability to do things
reflected the ability to think.
In this instance his efficient work not only opened the doors
of the institution to him but gave him a decided advantage.
His efforts secured for him the almost immediate appointment
to the post of janitor, which enabled him to earn his board.
The school aimed, then, as it does now, to " help those who help
themselves/' and so, while he had not sufficient means to pay
for his tuition, his earnest efforts won forjhim the sympathy
and support of his instructors and his tuition was paid by one
of the contributors to the institution Mr. S. Griffiths Morgan,
of New Bedford, Mass., who later became a supporter of Dr.
Washington in his own educational work.
There was nothing very regular or orderly about the lives
of the negroes in the homes with which young Washington was
44 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
familiar at the time he entered this school. It opened a new
world to him. He found things that he had never dreamed of,
The bath-tub and the tooth-brush had no place in his experiences
No snow-white table-cloth had ever decked the dining board
in his humble home, or in the homes of his friends; and the
napkin, if he had ever heard of it, was a thing in name only.
He was a stranger too, to clean, white sheets on his bed.
LEARNS THE USE OF A BATH-TUB.
In all his teachings in after years, Dr. Washington de
clared that one of the most valuable lessons he then received
was in the use of the bath-tub, because he learned for the first
time its value, not only as a means of keeping the body healthy,
but also as an agency for inspiring self-respect and promoting
virtue.
His early recognition of the fundamentals underlying these
practices proves that he was an advanced thinker, for it is only
within comparatively recent years that the public educators in
general have come to realize the necessity of making it part of
their duty to touch upon such personal topics in dealing with the
children who come to them for instruction. The fact that tooth
brushes were given to all the children in the New York public
schools at one time on a quite recent occasion, when the pupils
were receiving instruction in the use of the brushes as an in
cidental to a lesson in hygiene, proves by contrast that Dr.
Washington was something of an analyst that he studied
cause and effect.
Without any effort at dramatic effect; in the simplest,
straightforward manner, the young Washington of Hampton,
told in after years as the recognized educator, how he possessed
but one pair of socks he says socks, too, not half hose
and washed them out each night before he retired after his
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 45
day's work and studies were completed. Certainly his family
was not blessed with an extra supply of worldly goods. In
fact, at the end of his first year at Hampton, he still owed some
thing over sixteen dollars on his board, and could not get suffi
cient money to return to his home for vacation. Nor were
there any summer schools in those days, where he might, by
continuing work in connection with his studies, pass the vaca
tion period in advantageous study and employment.
SUPPORTS HIMSELF IN MEAGRE WAY.
He was able to support himself in a meagre sort of way by
waiting in a restaurant at Fortress Monroe, but he was com
pelled to return to Hampton without funds to pay off his indebt
edness, and gained admission for the second term by throw
ing himself on the mercy of the authorities and explaining his
position. It was during this second year at the school that
young Washington began to exhibit evidences of that ability
to organize and lead which subsequently gave him the oppor
tunity which made him famous.
The debating societies in the institution were a source of
great delight to him, and it is said that he never missed attend
ing one of the meetings. His interest in the debates and in
public speaking caused him to organize among his fellow stu
dents a semi-official debating organization, whereby the short
period which elapsed between supper hour and the time to begin
the evening studies was utilized in debating many subjects.
Young Washington was a leader in these sessions, though stu
dents from all classes and of all ages participated.
The seriousness with which he attacked his work and the
manner in which he viewed it, is in contrast to the manner in
which it is sometimes regarded to-day by young men who are
fortunate enough to have the advantage of a college education.
46 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
At the end of his second year in school with the assistance of
his older brother John, who still worked in the mines at Maiden,
and with some help from his mother, he was able to return to
his old home during vacation.
INTERESTING SIDE-LIGHTS ON HIS CHARACTER.
His own recital of his experiences on his return furnishes
interesting side-lights on his character at a time when most
students of his age would be looking forward only to a good
time. " The rejoicing on the part of all classes of colored
people, and particularly the older ones, was pathetic," he says
in some of his writings. He was compelled to pay a visit to
each family, to take a meal with each and to recite his exper
iences at the school. He was called upon to speak in the Baptist
Sunday School, which he had attended before he started on his
memorable journey, as well as tell about the work at Hampton
in public addresses elsewhere. At this early age he had be
come a pioneer, who was pointing the way to his own people.
It has been said that a prophet is not without honor, save in
his own country, but young Washington seems to have been the
exception to the rule.
In fact he seems to have exemplified that famous aphorism
' If a man can preach a better sermon, write a better book or
build a better mouse-trap than his neighbor, though his habita
tion be a cabin in the woods, people will eventually seek him out,
and one day he will find a beaten path to his door."
People were already " finding him out."
His efforts to find employment on his return were not
entirely successful, and to add to the burdens which he was at
tempting to shoulder, his mother who had supported him in his
efforts to advance himself, was suddenly stricken. He had
found work in a coal mine some distance from his home. Dur-
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 47
ing his absence she suffered an attack and died before he re
turned home. In fact, he had stopped in an abandoned house
to rest on his foot-journey home, and was found by his elder
brother asleep in the unoccupied building.
The death of his mother left the home in command of his
sister, who was unable to shoulder the burden and the remainder
of his vacation was not filled with happiness. The circum
stances under which he was compelled to struggle, were in fact
so difficult that Dr. Washington years afterward said, that he
felt at the time as though he was destined not to complete his
education. However, he continued to work intermittently in
the mines, and Mrs. Ruffner, who in his earlier boyhood days
had showed her appreciation of his efforts, re-employed him for
a time, so that he was able to save sufficient money to take him
back to the school.
REQUESTED TO RETURN TO HAMPTON.
In this connection it is interesting to note that the regard
he had won at the school by his earnest work, induced Miss
Mackie, the instructor who first gave him his test lesson, to
ask him to return to Hampton before the opening of the institu
tion, that he might get the buildings ready for occupancy. By
this means he was able to earn a sum to be credited on his board
for the ensuing year. This enabled him to start on a better
footing than on previous occasions.
Inspired by this confidence placed in him, Washington
exerted himself to the utmost and studied with such good effect
that when he had completed the course at the school and was
ready for graduation he was placed on the " honor roll " and
selected as one of the Commencement orators.
In summarizing the benefits he derived from his training
at Hampton, Dr. Washington himself, placed first among the
48 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
advantages, his acquaintance and contact with General Arm
strong; second, the knowledge he gained of the real purpose of
education, and what it is supposed to do for the individual ; the
realization that it is an honor, and not a disgrace to work, or
labor with the hands, and finally the satisfaction that comes of
doing things for others.
Following his graduation Washington went far from the
scenes of his early boyhood, into the North, and secured a place
as a waiter in a hotel. When the summer season ended, he
returned to his home in Maiden, West Virginia, where he first
made use of the special training and education he had received
at Hampton. There was much interest in the education of the
colored people and he was appointed a teacher. Here began his
real life work.
WASHINGTON AN ADVANCED EDUCATOR.
Dr. Washington often referred to his first experiences as a
teacher, and here he showed as in other instances that he was
an advanced educator. He not only gave the ordinary instruc
tion but so deeply was he interested in the welfare of his people,
that he instructed his pupils in the use of the tooth-brush, ad
vised them about bathing, taught them to comb and brush their
hair and sought to develop their self respect by generally keep
ing themselves clean, even to the point of urging them to take
proper care of their clothing.
Not only did he teach a day school, but he conducted a night
school for older men and women who were compelled to work
during the regular hours, and on Sunday taught classes in
Sunday Schools, in two widely separated districts, besides or
ganizing and directing the work of several debating societies
where questions affecting the education and development of the
negroes were discussed, together with general subjects.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. From a late photograph.
Under his guiding hand, Tuskegee grew up and became famed the world over
for what it has done for the colored race.
Copyright by Underwood & underwooa, JN
THE FAMILY HOME, TUSKEGEE
This handsome residence of Mr. Washington was well earned, and stands
as another monument to his life work.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
MR. AND MRS. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
And their sons, Davidson and Booker T., Jr., at home, Tuskegee, Alabama.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON DELIVERING A PUBLIC ADDRESS
He was an eloquent speaker and a tireless worker. He proved himself to be one of
the leading educators of his time.
THE GREAT LEADER OF A RISING RACE
A man whose struggles and life achievements are interwoven with the
history of the nation.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
LINCOLN GATES, TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE
Named after the immortal Lincoln and always an inspiration to the student
and visitor.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
GYMNASIUM, TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE
Physical development for young women, as well as young men, is provided for.
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 49
That he was deeply appreciative of the advantages he had
secured at Hampton and realized the value of the training to
be obtained there, is evidenced by the fact that when he began
teaching at Maiden, and was able to secure some remuneration
for his work, he inspired his older brother John, who assisted
him, to take the course at Hampton. Thus with the assistance
of the future leader of his people, John Washington too, was
able to work his way through school and prepare himself to
become an aid in the building up of the institution at Tuskegee.
An adopted brother James, who was taken into the family,
shortly after the removal to West Virginia, also completed the
course at Hampton.
HIS EFFORTS FAILED TO INSPIRE CONFIDENCE.
The period in which Booker Washington, the teacher be
gan his activities in the interest of his people was not such as
to inspire great confidence in the ultimate result of his efforts.
It was at this time that many factions in the South were aroused
by the fear that the negro would become a factor and by his vote
in conjunction with the Republicans of the North, hold the con
trolling power in the South. There was organized attempt to
prevent the political -ascendency of the negro.
The days of the " armed negro domination >: ' which had
been witnessed for a short period after the war in some sections
because of the selfish or over-zealous leadership of some of the
radical abolitionists were long since passed, but the famous Klu
Klux were operating. There are those who are not proud
of the record made by the members of that mystic order, but
their activities have a place in the history of the South, which
cannot be ignored, since it was in the face of the chaotic con
ditions then existing that Dr. Washington began his real
struggles.
4-W
50 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
The negro who stood accused of some overt act, or who
had aroused the ill-will of those identified with the operations
of the Klu Klux, might well tremble. From out the night there
rode on horseback, a band of men who might have gal
loped bodily out of those pages of history which tell of the
famous quests of the Knights of King Arthur. Riders and
horses were hooded in white. On the breasts of their knightly
costumes were red insignia, and on the coverings of the horses
were the mystic marks of the band or clan.
There was no trumpeting, no herald announced their ap
proach. They came swiftly and silently to the place where
might be found the object of their vengeance. And when they
were gone there was found a dead negro one who had been
hanged to a tree or been riddled with bullets.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE NIGHT-RIDERS.
While teaching at Maiden, Washington had an opportun
ity to see the work of some of these night riders, who engaged
in a fierce battle with negroes. In the course of the struggle
General Lewis Ruffner, in whose home he had served as house-
boy, was severely hurt while taking the part of the colored
people. He was knocked down and so injured that he never en
tirely recovered from the effects of his injuries. The period
of these lawless attacks were always referred to by Dr. Wash
ington as among the darkest in his career.
The first real public recognition which came to Dr. Wash
ington was at a period of approximately four years after he
had completed his education at Hampton. Following his teach
ing at Maiden, he went to Washington, D. C., and took a special
course at Wayland Seminary.
At the end of the school year, officials in Charleston, West
Virginia, who recognized his abiHty as a speaker, as well as his
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 51
influence with the colored people, prevailed upon him to go upon
the public platform and talk in the interest of Charleston as the
seat of the State capital. At that time the capital was Wheel
ing. Representatives of several cities were trying to secure the
establishment of the State executive headquarters in their res
pective communities and the Legislature had finally passed a
law authorizing a popular vote to determine the question. Three
cities were named as possibilities. Washington accepted the
invitation to stump the State in the interest of Charleston, and
when, after a campaign lasting several months the question was
put to a vote, Charleston was the choice of the people.
BEGINS THE STUDY OF LAW.
At this point, one of the few in his career when he seems to
have looked aside from his work along educational lines, the
young teacher began the study of law in Charleston. His suc
cess on the stump, in the State capital campaign, had fired his
ambition, and he looked for a time with longing on a political
career.
Just about this time, however, he was honored by his old
school Hampton, in having been invited to deliver an address
at the Commencement. Following this occasion, when he chose
for his topic " the Force that Wins/' he found an opportunity
to continue his educational work through the kindness of Gen
eral Armstrong, who invited him to return and take a post
graduate course and act as an instructor.
Out of this opportunity there came to him some unusual
experiences, and the lesson he had learned in his early boyhood
struggles of the value of the night school was brought home
to him. It had been decided to start a night school at Hampton,
for those who were compelled to work all day, and Washington
was placed in charge of the work.
52 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
It was while he was carrying on this work that the school
was opened to the Indian boys of the country, and it fell to
Washington's lot to have charge of these sons of the red men
who came from out the great West. At that time little effort
had been made to educate the Indian with any degree of tho
roughness, and in fact, there were many who did not believe
that the aborigines were capable of being educated. General
Armstrong's plan was rather of an experimental nature and
must have been regarded as somewhat daring, since it involved
the bringing together of two distinct races.
A TRUSTED DEVELOPER AT TWENTY-THREE.
How much progress Washington had made up to this time
may be noted by the fact that he was now not more than twenty-
three years of age, and that he had already grown to a point
where he could be trusted to train and develop an almost bar
baric people.
The Indians, proud of their ancestry, regarded themselves
superior in many respects to the white man, and the problem be
fore the young colored teacher was not entirely simple. His
observations on the capabilities of the Indians in after years
was that his experience convinced him that the main thing any
oppressed people needed was a chance of the right kind, and they
would cease to be savages.
There was something under one hundred Indians in the
school, and Washington was compelled to take up his residence
in their quarters, where he was the only one of his race. In
discussing educational problems he later said that he found
that there was very little difference between the Indians and
other human beings. They responded to kind treatment and
resented ill-treatment, and at all times seemed ready to render
service and do things that would add to his comfort. He noted
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 53
that they objected most seriously to having their hair cut, were
displeased at the idea of having to give up their blankets and
considered it a hardship to be compelled to give up smoking.
Compared with the colored students, he noted little differ
ence in their ability to learn, except that they experience diffi
culty in mastering the English language. That Washington's
efforts in behalf of his Indian charges were successful is a
matter of record at Hampton, and it is certain that the exper
ience broadened his vision and better fitted him for the greater
work he was shortly to take up at Tuskegee.
MANY BITTER EXPERIENCES.
It has often been said that it is through trial and tribula
tion that man is prepared to undertake great works, and there
is ample evidence to show that Washington had many annoying
and bitter experiences. One that made him feel the weight of
public sentiment against the black race came when he was called
upon to escort a sick Indian student to Washington, for the
purpose of having him turned over to the Secretary of the
Interior for return to the Indian Reservation whence he came.
On arriving at the hotel in Washington where he had been in
structed to take the Indian, Washington found that his charge
would be received as a guest at the hostelry, but that lie was
barred, as a member of the black race. That experience was
not only trying, but puzzling, since the young teacher could not
understand how the hotel clerk was able to draw the color line,
there being very little difference in the color of the Indian's
skin and his own.
During the period of his service as an instructor of the
Indians, and as teacher of the night school, Washington con
tinued to study under the direction of Dr. H. B. Frissell, who
later became successor of General Armstrong as principal of
54 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
the Hampton Institute. It was while he was thus working and
studying that there came to him through General Armstrong,
and as direct reward for his earnest and effective work, the big
opportunity of his life.
One night at the close of the chapel exercises General
Armstrong announced that he had received a letter from Tuske-
gee, Alabama, asking him to recommend someone to take charge
of a school which was to be established for the education of the
colored people. Subsequently he summoned Washington to
his office and asked him if he could fill the post in Alabama.
With characteristic honesty the young teacher replied that he
was " willing to try."
GENERAL ARMSTRONG SHOWS CONFIDENCE.
General Armstrong thereupon showed his confidence in his
young instructor by recommending him to those in charge of
the movement in Alabama, although they had originally sought
a white teacher. As a result of this, after a short time, he was
offered the post which led to the establishment of Tuskegee
Institute. The acceptance of General Armstrong's offer to
send Washington to Alabama as an educator was announced
in chapel one evening and was in the form of a telegram,
which read:
' Booker T. Washington will suit us. Send him at once."
There was little delay on the part of Washington in going
to the seat of his future operations. The students showered
congratulations upon him and those who had helped him in his
studies offered their best wishes and made known their willing
ness to render him any assistance, and Hampton Institute
knew him no more as a student.
Tuskegee was to receive as its foremost colored citizen
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 55
a man who was in the words of the modern phrasist was des
tined to " put it on the map."
It is worthy of note, at this point, that while Booker T.
Washington became the recognized advocate of industrial train
ing for the negro, and that the institution which he came to
erect at Tuskegee reflected much that he learned at Hampton
Institute, he was not alone in his theories as to the best means
of developing the negro.
VALUE OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.
He had constantly before him as a distressing lesson which
tended to intensify his ideas as to the value of industrial train
ing; i. e. the experiences of colored men and women, who,
within a few years had been thrown out into the world, depen
dent on their own resources, and who were imbued with the
idea that their freedom from slavery meant freedom from
manual labor. There was during the formative period of his
career a marked tendency on the part of the colored people to
consider " book learning " the solution of every economic prob
lem, and within a few years the South was filled with negroes
called to preach. Some in the rapidly changing situations had
entered the political arena and secured State or government
positions.
The absurdity of negroes entering public life, without
having been prepared to meet the demands that would be made
upon them, was forcefully brought to his attention on one
occasion when in passing a building in course of erection he
heard one negro workman addressing another shout, " Hurry
up, Governor."
The speaker was addressing a hod-carrier and his com
mand was so urgent that Washington stopped to inquire about
the Governor. He learned that the hod-carrier had in the
56 MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE.
period just after the war, been elected to the post of Lieuten-
ant-Governor of his State.
Though of an entirely different type than Washington,
Frederick Douglass, the negro Statesman, was a pioneer in
the advocacy of industrial training for the negro, and Washing
ton had before him the lessons which this unusual leader of the
negro race had taught. In many respects there was a similarity
between the two great leaders.
WASHINGTON'S ADVANTAGES OVER DOUGLASS.
Frederick Douglass was born a slave, in as humble circum
stances, and he accomplished much without the educational ad
vantages which young Washington was able to obtain. Of his
own early life, which is interesting in comparison with that of
Booker Washington, it is related that when invited to return
to the scene of his childhood in Talbot County, Maryland,
to address a colored school, he said:
" I once knew a little colored boy whose mother and father
died when he was but six years old. He was a slave, and had
no one to care for him. He slept on a dirt floor in a hovel,
and in cold weather would crawl into a meal bag headforemost,
and leave his feet in the ashes to keep them warm. Often he
would roast an ear of corn and eat it to satisfy his hunger, and
many times he has crawled under the barn or stable and secured
eggs, which he would roast in the fire and eat.
" That boy did not wear pants like you, but a tow linen
shirt. Schools were unknown to him, and he learned to spell
from an old Webster's spelling book and to read and write from
posters on cellar and barn doors, while men and boys would help
him. He would then preach and speak, and soon became well-
known. He became a Presidential elector, United States Mar
shal, United States Recorder, United States Diplomat and ac-
MATRICULATING IN COLLEGE. 57
cumulated some wealth. He wore broadcloth and did not have
to divide crumbs with the dogs under the table. That boy was
Frederick Douglass.
" What was possible for me is possible for you. Don't
think that because you are colored you can't accomplish any
thing. Strive earnestly to add to your knowledge. So long
as you remain in ignorance, so long will you fail to command
the self-respect of your fellow men."
INSPIRED BY DOUGLASS.
That Washington found much in the life and history of
Douglass to inspire him goes without saying. The great negro
statesman believed that the colored people must struggle and
labor, and in one of his eloquent addresses exclaimed " The
destiny of the colored race is in their own hands. They must
bear and suffer ; they must toil and be patient ; they must carve
out their own fortunes, and they will do it." Thus he expressed
in a few words the principles advocated and advanced by Book
er Washington in his work at Tuskegee.
The view which Dr. Washington held of Douglass is re
flected in his writings. In referring to the race-prejudice he
tells of a conversation with Mr. Douglass, on one occasion,
when the long since departed colored statesman described a
trip through Pennsylvania, when he was compelled to ride in a
baggage car because of his color. Some of the white passen
gers who knew him went into the baggage car to console him,
and remarked,
1 1 am sorry, Mr. Douglass, that you have been degraded
in this manner." Douglass straightened himself up, and re
plied:
: They cannot degrade Frederick Douglass. The soul that
is within me no man can degrade.
CHAPTER III.
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR: BUILDING A SCHOOL
FROM NOTHING.
TLJSKEGEE, Alabama, came to know Booker T. Washing
ton in the Summer of the year 1881, and by that same
token Booker T. Washington came to know Tuskegee.
The scene of his new activities was in the center of what was
known as the Black Belt, a term which Dr. Washington defined
as meaning a part of the country which was distinguished by
the color of its soil. Such territory was naturally that in
which agriculture was most profitable, and for that reason it
was where the slaves were found to be in the greatest numbers,
so that the term ultimately came to be applied to those portions
of the country where the negroes were thickest. The expression
was used very largely in a political sense.
The town of Tuskegee was founded in 1830, and had
at the time of his advent approximately two thousand inhabi
tants. In the community the black residents outnumbered the
whites by about fully three to one, and in some of the surround
ing territory the proportion of blacks to whites was much
greater. It was such conditions as these which made the prob
lem of the negro so difficult.
Instead of finding a school already for his occupancy and
work, Dr. Washington found that the State of Alabama,
through the influence of some progressive residents of Tuske
gee, among them Lewis Adams, a negro and ex-slave, and
George W. Campbell, a banker and an ex- slave owner, had ap
propriated a sum of $2000 for the establishment of the school,
or rather for the payment of the instructors in what was
58
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 59
to be a Normal school for the education of the colored people.
This was the stage of development which the work had
reached when Dr. Washington arrived on the scene. The town
was, however, receptive. It was one of those places in which
the colored and whites seemed to live in apparently friendly
relations. The white residents had a fine appreciation of the
value of education, for Tuskegee had been something of a
centre of education for them. There were even at that time
a number of negroes in business in the community who had won
the respect of the white residents and who enjoyed some of
their trade.
OVERJOYED AT EDUCATIONAL PROSPECTS.
The colored people were overjoyed at the prospect of ob
taining educational facilities, and while no provision had been
made for securing land for a school site or planning for the
construction of buildings, the young educator found the people
willing to render any aid possible. Much has been said about
environment and atmosphere, and the value of these things
is being discussed to-day in every centre of education, but there
was not much atmosphere, nor much that was inspiring in the
way of environment for Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee, in
so far as an educational institution could be considered. The
inspiration came from within himself and from the spirit which
pervaded the community.
The only available building for his primitive school was
an old dilapidated frame building or shanty near the colored
church. Arrangements were completed to utilize this old build
ing and to have the church serve as sort of an assembly room.
The church was in little better state of repair than was the
shanty, and in his comments on those early events Dr. Washing
ton says that it was frequently necessary for the student to hold
60 A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR.
an umbrella over his head while it rained, because the water
poured through the leaky roof.
Before actually starting the school, Dr. Washington made
a survey of the country near-by, largely with a view to ad
vertising the project and getting the views of the people on
the question of education. His journey was made in a cart
drawn by a mule, and he ate and slept in the homes of the
humble people wherever he went.
His reflections on the conditions as he found them throw
an interesting light on the lives of the negroes at this crucial
period.
THE WHOLE FAMILY SLEPT IN ONE ROOM.
" I found," said the young educator, " that in the planta
tion districts as a rule, the whole family slept in one room,
and that in addition to the regular members of the family there
were frequently relatives or others, who were compelled to
occupy this same room. On many occasions I had to go outside
to get ready for bed or wait until the family had retired.
" They usually provided some place on the floor, or gave
me part of another's bed. There was no provision for the
bath inside the house, though frequently some provision had
been made for it outside. The ordinary diet was fat pork and
corn bread and the people seemed to have no other ambition or
thought except to exist on this fare."
The significance of this to Dr. Washington was that the
poor negroes purchased their limited supply of food from the
stores and made practically no attempt to cultivate the land
around about them, on which they might have raised sufficient
food to provide them with generous tables Their one object
seemed to be to plant nothing but cotton, wherein was reflected
the result of their years of training as slaves.
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 61
A condition which is not confined to the negro, was also
noted with some concern by Dr. Washington. He found that
in many humble homes, nay, in the veriest hovels, families had
bought sewing-machines at high cost and were paying for them
on the installment plan, or had invested in fancy clocks, or
organs, or ornamental pieces of furniture. In one such hovel
where he sat down to dinner, he noted, he afterward said, that
for the five persons present there was but one fork to use.
HONORS ARRANGED FOR DR. WASHINGTON.
Such gatherings at the table were often arranged in honor
of Dr. Washington, for on ordinary occasions the operation of
the home, as is usually the case with the extremely ignorant or
untrained, was on sort of a hit or miss plan. Each person served
himself from a general pot or skillet in which the meagre meal
was prepared and hied himself off to work. Father, mother,
sons and daughters all who were able to wield a hoe found
their way to the cotton fields, leaving the house to take care of
itself.
The economic conditions were a revelation to him, though
they were a matter of common knowledge to many in the South
who were struggling with the problem of " what to do with
the negro." Up to this time he had not seen much of life in
its broader aspect he had been very much engaged and con
centrated on his efforts to equip himself for the work among his
people. Here he found himself a missionary at home among
his own people.
He found that Saturday retained for the negroes some
thing of the atmosphere that had maintained during the days of
slavery, when they were given certain days off for enjoyment.
Saturdays seemed to be their holidays and the whole
62 A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR.
family went to town to make a few purchases, and stand or
sit around to discuss weighty events or gossip.
Crops were mortgaged and the colored farmers were in
debt. There were few, if any, country schools, classes being
held in churches or log cabins, and where there were schools
there was no adequate equipment. Frequently there was no
provision for heat, and those who were serving in the capacity
of instructors were often absolutely incompetent.
OPPORTUNITY TO PERFORM A GREAT WORK.
The advantage of all this from the standpoint at least of
Dr. Washington, was that if left him ample opportunity to
perform a great work. In some localities conditions were much
better than in others and there were here and there colored men
who had improved their time and were highly respected in
their neighborhoods.
Dr. Washington's survey more clearly impressed upon him
the wisdom of General Armstrong's method of developing
the mental and the physical simultaneously. From his exper
iences and his investigation was builded up in his mind the plans
of the Institute which he forthwith established on July 4,
1881.
The memory of the events of earlier days when an " edu
cated negro " seemed to be typified by a white haired old darkie,
wearing a silk hat, frock coat, and carrying a cane, was not for
gotten by every white resident, and there was some doubt ex
pressed as to the wisdom of the move about to be taken. There
was a question as to whether education in its generally accepted
form would not affect the value of the negro as an economic
factor. But there was no danger that Dr. Washington would
offer any other than a training which developed and increased
the value of the negro in the world of industry.
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 63
From the beginning he was committed to this idea, and to
the final end he advocated industrial education for his people.
At one time he said regarding the colored people of the South,
that wherever a colored man was found in a community wha
had won the confidence of the people for reliability, it would be
discovered in a majority of cases that he had learned a trade
during the days of slavery.
When the final day came for opening the little school about
thirty students reported for admissions. There was an even
division as to sex, and almost no limit as to age. Many of those
who came to the school were teachers in the log-cabin schools
or of classes that met in the country churches. With these
teachers there came the children they were trying to instruct.
AN EXPERIENCE TO BE REMEMBERED.
Out of the many lessons Dr. Washington drew from his
experiences up to this point in his career, is one that should
not be forgotten by any youth of the country. It has to do with
the advantages or disadvantages of birth. It may be conven
ient to be " born with a silver spoon in the mouth/' but the
economic conditions of the present day do not make this always
the most desirable. The struggle is so bitter that it is neces
sary for every individual to be prepared to meet the emergency,
and he must be trained to be able to do so.
" I do not envy the white boys as I once did/' declared Dr.
Washington in this relation. " I have found that success is
measured not so much by the position attained in life as by the
obstacles which have been overcome in attaining that position.
Looked at from this angle, I have reached the conclusion that
very often the negro boy's birth and connection with a race that
is unpopular, may be an advantage, in so far as real life is con
cerned.
64 A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR.
" The negro youth must usually work harder and perhaps
perform his tasks better in order to secure recognition, but out
of the unusual struggle which he is compelled to face, he gains
a strength and confidence which is not developed in those whose
pathway lies smooth by reason of birth and race."
A MENTAL OPPORTUNITY PROVIDED.
This was the sort of mentality that was destined to provide
opportunity for the colored youth of the Eastern Alabama sec
tion when the Tuskegee school opened. Hardly had the little
educational institution been started on its career than Dr.
Washington began devising ways of building to meet the exi
gencies of the situation which he found. It developed that most
of those who came to the school were unable to give atten
dance through an entire session, that they had not the means
wherewith to pay for tuition or board, and in many instances
for the books and incidentals of school life. Dr. Washington
noticed too, that many of them seemed to think that they were
to secure an education that they might no longer be compelled
to work.
The urgent need for industrial training was therefore
manifest, first that the pupils should be weaned away from the
idea that it was not honorable to labor, and second, that a means
could be provided whereby they could earn something which
would help them defray necessary expenses. It was a note
worthy fact that few, if any of the pupils knew how to live.
They did not know how to properly prepare food, nor what
they ought to have for that food.
At this point the reputation for integrity which Washing
ton had gained at Hampton Institute stood him in good stead.
In distress because he could see no way out of a very trouble
some situation, he wrote to General J. F. B. Marshall, treasurer
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 65
of the school where he had obtained his education, and sought
assistance in the purchase of the farm which was to ultimately
become the site of the now famous Tuskegee Institute.
This was a farm about a mile from Tuskegee, which the
young educator said could be purchased at a low price. Though
he had no security to offer, General Marshall forwarded the
$500 which Dr. Washington declared were necessary to make
the preliminary payment on the farm and it became the first
property of the school.
WASHINGTON A BIG, BROAD MAN.
If the results of his efforts alone did not indicate the fact,
the proof that Dr. Washington was really a big, broad man
may be found right at this point in his career, for instead of
taking all the credit for the rapid progress made in the face of
grave difficulties, he gave much praise for the advance
to the efforts of Miss Olivia A. Davidson, also a Hampton
Institute graduate, whose education was supplemented by a
course at the Framingham, Mass., Normal School. Miss
Davidson was employed as an assistant soon after the school
was started.
" The success during the first half dozen years of the
school's existence," declared Dr. Washington on more than
one occasion, "was due more to Miss Davidson than anyone
else. She was the one to bring order out of every difficulty.
When the last effort had apparently been exhausted and it
seemed things must stop, she discovered the way out."
The money for making the final payment on the farm
which was to be the final home of the Institute, and paying
back the advance made by General Marshall, of Hampton,
was raised by house to honse canvass, collections at public
meetings and in churches in Tuskegee and surrounding
5-W
66 A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR.
territory, and by contributions from friends of Dr. Washington
and Miss Davidson, not only in the South, but in the North
as well.
While money was being raised for the payment of the
Institute site, classes were held regularly in the old shanty
and church which were originally selected. These buildings
were of a tumble-down variety frequently found in half
developed or poor rural districts. Rough board structures
they were, with crude windows from which glasses were miss
ing; solid wooden shutters held in place by strap hinges.
They were such buildings as would scarcely be regarded as fit
for the shelter of ordinary cattle in the modern view of things,
but they served well the purposes of Dr. Washington and his
assistants, even if with some considerable inconveniences, as
for instance, when it was necessary to use umbrellas because
the rain poured through the cracks in the plank roof.
THE LAND VALUE TURNED TO ACCOUNT.
Almost immediately after the site for the school was
secured preparations were made to turn the land value to
account. At the close of the day sessions in the school, Dr.
Washington would call for volunteers, and with them go to
the school land. There with axes and tools the pupils, many
of them older than their instructor, would assist in clearing
the land for cultivation. There remained standing on the
newly procured property, an old kitchen a reminder of the
ante-bellum days, a rickety stable and a chicken coop* These
were renovated in a primitive way, patched and whitewashed
and prepared for use as class rooms and dormitories, pending
the erection of the first building.
While this work was proceeding money had been secured
for the erection of the building which was to be the first in a
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 67
group covering a great area of land. The larger part of the
funds for the erection of this building were secured through the
instrumentality of H. A. Porter, of Brooklyn, so that it was
dedicated Porter Hall.
The first services were held in this hall on Thanksgiving
Day, 1882, and it is a matter of incidental note that it was the
first Thanksgiving celebration ever held in Tuskegee. It is
worthy of mention, also, that the conditions in the South for
many years made the celebration of Thanksgiving and
Christmas something entirely different from the celebrations
in the North, and even now there is a decided difference be
tween the attitude of a large part of the people of the South
and those of the North in the matter of observing Christmas.
It is odd to find the stores selling fireworks and such devices
as are used in the North on Independence Day Fourth of
July for use on Christmas.
A TINGE OF REAL ROMANCE.
The more human the individual the larger the possibility
for a tinge of real romance to enter the life, and Booker T-
Washington, while consistently avoiding reference to his per
sonal life, except in so far as it related to his public efforts,
naturally had his breast pierced by that little herald of love
Cupid. While his mind was struggling with the problems of
Tuskegee in the making, his thoughts reverted to that far
away village of Maiden, to which he returned during his
vacation, and after his graduation from Hampton. Close to
his thoughts was Miss Fannie N. Smith, of Maiden, who "be
came a student at Hampton, and who by her interest in his
work gave him inspiration. She was married to Dr.
Washington, in the summer of 1882, and when the fall came
she joined him in his work at Tuskegee and began keeping
68 A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR.
house. The Washington home then became something of a
faculty house, in which the assistants to the head of the school
found a home. The first child of the negro educator came
this union. She was named Portia M. Washington, and wa s
left to the care of her father when a babe by the death of the
young wife who was destined not to see her husband's dreams
realized.
THE FAME OF LITTLE SCHOOL NOISED ABOUT.
The fame of the little 'school and what Dr. Washington
was attempting to accomplish rapidly became noised through
Alabama and the surrounding territory, and within a short
time the demand for admission exceeded any possible accom
modations. Sometimes it was necessary to domicile the
students in huts and tents temporarily arranged on the large
tract of land, and a make-shift dormitory was fashioned for
girls who had to live at the school in the upper floor of Porter
Hall. With the heavy demands and the fact that the large
number of permanent students had to be fed, there came the
difficult problem of feeding them. There were no provisions
for this. But Dr. Washington and his assistants and willing
students again proved the truth of that old axiom "necessity
is the mother of invention."
The emergency was met by digging out a dining-room
under part of Porter Hall. This was walled up and sheathed
and formed the nucleus of what became the domestic science
department of the institution.
How very determined the leader was in his belief that the
negro needed to learn that it was honorable to work, was made
manifest very early in the history of the school when the prin
ciple was laid down that every student must engage in some
sort of work or labor, no matter what his or her financial status
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 69
might be, and that none should remain unless prepared to
abide by this rule. Since in those days many negroes had
come to believe that education was a substitute for work that
when they had secured an education they would no longer be
compelled to engage in physical labor this policy brought
forth much criticism, and many students came to the school
armed with messages from parents who served notice that they
were not sending their children to learn to work, but to secure
an education.
At this point some views of Dr. Washington on this sub
ject are worthy of consideration. In explaining the purposes
of the school and the reasons for building the sort of an insti
tution Tuskegee has come to be, Dr. Washington said that
" no one understanding the needs of the negro race would
advocate that industrial education should be given to every
negro to the exclusion of professions and other learning." In
enlarging on this subject he adds that because the negro is in
a large measure destined to remain in the South, and because
conditions beyond their control attached them to the soil, a
large proportion of them will, for time to come, continue to be
laborers, and therefore the purpose was to raise common labor
from drudgery to a position of dignity and to effect a system
of training that would meet the need of the greatest number,
thus preparing them for the better things which intelligent
effort would bring.
He advocated industrial training for the negro, not with
the idea that educatiou in other lines was entirely unsuited to
them, but because the undeveloped fields of the South in agri
culture and industry offered great opportunities for such fun
damental development of the colored people as would lead them
70 A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR.
into better citizenship. His idea from the beginning was that
correct education begins at the bottom and expands naturally
as the people who receive it expand. Briefly, Tuskegee may
be described as a character-building institution. This was the
real foundation on which the institution was built. That foun
dation was the real, big gift of Dr. Washington a big idea, a
broad vision, a knowledge of conditions and how to meet them.
EVERYTHING MUST BE DONE BY THE STUDENTS.
It was for the purpose of carrying out these ideas that
Dr. Washington insisted from the very first that wherever
possible everything about the school must be done by the stu
dents the colored people themselves. Thus they would come
to be skilled in all of the trades, but the work would enable
them to earn sufficient money to defray, or partly defray, their
expenses. Incidentally, the worth of a student, or what he
promised in the way of development and breadth of character,
was determined by his willingness to work.
The lesson which Dr. Washington received when he was
put to the test of cleaning a recitation room at Hampton was
applied here with vigor. In fact one of the things that seems
to have made Dr. Washington the leader that he turned out to
be was that when he learned a lesson he turned that lesson to
account.
Dr. Washington's theory was that while the students
might make errors and experience failures they would learn
by their experiences, and the lessons of self-help would prove
of inestimable value. This was something of a radical idea in
educational circles in those days, but it has since become a
pretty well established principle that if you want to teach a
youth to save money it is easier to do it by showing him how
to invest it and how to earn it than it is to do it by preaching
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 71
about saving and then giving him the money to put aside.
The mere story of the early struggles which Dr. Wash
ington experienced, working shoulder to shoulder with Miss
Olivia A. Davidson, to whose efforts he credited much of the
institution's success, furnishes groundwork for a romance in
real life which culminated in the marriage of the couple in
1885. There was a perfect understanding and a deep bond of
sympathy underlying all of their efforts, and undoubtedly
much that he accomplished was due to the assistance rendered
by this, his second wife. Two children were born of this union,
Booker Taliaferro Washington and Ernest Davidson Wash
ington. During her married life Mrs. Washington continued
to labor in the interest of Tuskegee. She died in 1889.
WHAT DR. WASHINGTON ACCOMPLISHED.
Somewhere in this work it is urgent that a survey be
made of Tuskegee to provide a concrete view of what was
accomplished through the efforts of Dr. Washington and to
give some idea of what it was that led to his being recognized
the world over as the foremost educator of his race and one of
the foremost in the industrial training field in the world.
Remembering that the first building erected was Porter
Hall, and that in it were the industrial and academic class
rooms, the kitchen, dining room, laundry, commissary, assem
bly room and dormitories, and that the property consisted of
about 100 acres of land, the following general description is
significant :
" At the close of the term, May 31, 1914, Tuskegee Nor
mal and Industrial Institute, which is the official title, owned
no buildings, 2,110 acres of land, about 350 head of live stock,
wagons, carriages, farm implements and other equipment
amounting in value to $1,468,413.96. Supplementing this, as
72 A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR.
the result of an Act of Congress in 1899, * ne school had received
25,000 acres of mineral land, of which more than 5,000 acres
has been sold and the money applied to the endowment fund.
The remaining more than 19,000 acres are estimated as worth
$250,000. This sum added to the regular endowment will
give the institution a permanent endowment of $2,192,112.08.
The total value of all property, real and personal, including
the endowment fund, at this time was estimated at $3,660,526.04.
DESIRED TO PERPETUATE WORK OF SCHOOL.
The endowment fund was started by graduates who desired
to perpetuate the work of the school in December, 1890. The
fund was designated the <( Olivia Davidson Fund," in memory
of the first woman principal, as the Dean of the Woman's
Department was designated. The first sum raised was $1,000.
Among the subsequent notable contributions were one from
Collis P. Huntingdon, $50,000; a $600,000 gift from Andrew
Carnegie ; one of $150,000 in memory of William H. Baldwin,
Jr., who was one of the trustees of the institution at the time
of his death, and $231,072 from the Estate of Albert Wilcox.
The principal buildings are :
The Office Building, located on the main thoroughfare of
the school grounds ; a handsome three-story structure of 28
rooms, in which are located the Tuskegee Institute Bank, the
Government Post Office, and most of the administrative offices
of the school.
The Dining Hall, known as Tompkins Hall, in memory of
Charles E. Tompkins, of Southport, Conn.; the largest and
most imposing building on the school grounds. It contains
a dining room large eough to seat the 180 teachers, together
with the i, 600 students of the school, and has, in addition, an
assembly room large enough to set 2,500 persons.
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 73
The Collis P. Huntington Memorial Building, which, until
the erection of the Dining Hall, was the largest building on
the school grounds. It was given by Mrs. Collis P. Hunting-
ton in memory of her husband. In this building all of the
academic work of the school is carried on.
The John A. Andrew Memorial Hospital was dedicated
and formally opened on February 21, 1913. The building
was given by a Boston friend of the school in memory of her
grandfather, former Governor John A. Andrew, of Massachu
setts. The building cost $50,000, and $5,000 additional was
provided for equipment. The Hospital is a two-story brick
structure. In plan, it is the shape of the letter " E," The site
on which it stands is one of the high points of the school grounds
and overlooks almost the entire campus.
SLATER-ARMSTRONG MEMORIAL.
The Slater- Armstrong Memorial (Boy's Trades) Build
ing, in which the mechanical shops are located, is an attractive
and impressive brick building situated a little west of the centre
of the campus. It is 283 x 315 feet in its greatest dimensions,
and accommodates all the mechanical industries, excepting the
saw-mill, electric lighting apparatus, and boilers, which are
separately housed, and the brickyard.
In general plan the building is arranged about the four sides
of a central court, with cross wings 37 x 60 feet, at each corner,
thus three sides of the entire building are simply supplied with
windows, giving an abundance of light and air.
Phelp's Hall, the Bible Trainng School, is a frame struc
ture, three stories high, exclusive of basement or attic. The
first floor contains the Chapel, Library and Reading Room, the
Dean's office and three recitation rooms. The two upper floors
are used for sleeping apartments.
74
Dorothy Hall, the Girl's Industrial Building, is a substan
tial structure fronting the Slater-Armstrong Memorial Trades
Building. It is 120 feet by 144 feet in its greatest dimensions.
In plan, it is in the shape of the letter " H," the front or central
part facing the west. The south wing of the building and the
central part are two stories high. The north wing is three
stories high. The basement story contains four rooms. These
rooms are use for assorting clothes and storing material belong
ing to the laundry. Here also is the laundry machinery and
the tubs for hand washing.
MILLBANK AGRICULTURAL BUILDING.
Millbank Agricultural Building is the centre of the agri
cultural life. The plan of the building is rectangular. It is
1 20 feet long by 60 feet wide. It contains a creamery, a hog
cholera serum laboratory, a class-room arranged for studying
live stock, museum, general laboratories and assembly room.
There are in addition a Children's House, Chapel and num
erous lesser buildings for specific purposes, together with these
dormitories :
Olivia Davidson Hall, a dormitory for young men;
one of the older buildings. It is a three-story brick structure,
heated and lighted from the central heating and lighting plant
from which nearly all the buildings are now heated and lighted.
Thrasher Hall, named in memory of Max Bennett Thrash
er, of Westmoreland, N. H., a three-story brick dormitory
building for boys.
Cassedy Hall, originally occupied by mechanical indus
tries, but now a boy's dormitory.
Rockefeller Hall, a three-story brick dormitory building,
housing 1 60 boys, and donated by John D. Rockefeller.
Emery Halls, Nos. I, II, III, IV; two-story brick dormi-
A NEW FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. 75
tory buildings for young women and presented by the late Miss
Julia E. Emery, of London.
Huntingdon Hall, a two-story brick building, the gift of
Mrs. Collis P. Huntingdon, containing 23 rooms, basement and
attic and used as girls' dormitory.
Douglass Hall, named in memory of Frederick Douglass,
and used as a girl's dormitory. It contains 33 rooms and has
an assembly room seating 750 persons.
The White Memorial Hall, erected in memory of Alexan
der Moss White, of Brooklyn; the gift of his heirs. It is a
girls' dormitory.
Tantum Hall, given by Margaret W. Tantum, of Trenton,
New Jersey, in memory of her father; also a dormitory for
girls.
Carnegie Library, a two-story Colonial brick structure
with an assembly room and Historical Museum on the second
floor.
This brief outline of the Institution in its physical sense
is given merely to show what was grown out of "nothing."
What has really been accomplished cannot be estimated in
dollars and cents. The great property with its buildings and
equipment is simply a tool of education. Dr. Washington had
to make his educational tools as he went along, and it was in the
making of these, and the results he achieved in the use of them,
that he came after a few years to step from the confines of
Eastern Alabama into the lime light of publicity as the " colored
man of the century/'
CHAPTER IV.
A JOB OF MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH ,
THOSE who have had the opportunity to come in contact
with that vast army of colored human beings to be
found in what is referred to as the Black Belt of the
South, can have little conception of the raw material from which
Dr. Washington was compelled to draw in his efforts to build
up a citizenry of his race which would prove a credit to the
institution which he started.
" I found," said Dr. Washington, on one occasion, " that
while many of those who came to us had a superficial knowledge
of things which they had previously studied, and could perhaps
locate the Desert of Sahara on an artificial globe, the girls could
not locate the proper places for the knives or forks on an actual
dinner table."
It sounds very nice now to tell of the wonderful progress
made by the institution, and there may be some who have a con
ception of the great difficulties faced by Dr. Washington and his
aids, but no one can possibly experience the mental stress to
which the negro educator was subjected while trying to build
his school and secure the equipment at one and the same time.
He stood before the world as a man who was trying an
experiment which was doomed to failure. It was generally
believed that negroes could not build up and control the affairs
of a large institution such as he was trying to establish the
presumption was against him. In all of his difficulties, how
ever, Dr. Washington, in his writings, in his conversation and
on the pubic platform, always paid a tribute to the people of
Tuskegee, both white and black, who he declared never failed
76
MAKING CITIZENS EROM THE ROUGH. 77
to aid him in his endeavors when he went to them for assis
tance. They came to feel as he hoped, that the school was part
of the community and belonged to all of the people.
One of Dr. Washington's experiences which he has re
ferred to on many occasions, and which shows the mountains
he was compelled to surmount, came of his trying to manufac
ture bricks for the contruction of his own buildings. In line
with his early established policy he wanted to have the students
do all of the work, and yet the time came when it was necessary
to erect substantial buildings, and the material had to be secured.
BRICK-MAKING WITH ITS ADVANTAGES.
With foresight Dr. Washington saw that brickmaking,
as one of the industries established in connection with his insti
tute, would offer many advantages. The students could learn
the art, it would provide material for buildings, and the work
could be developed to a point where it would become profitable
because there was no brickyard in or near Tuskegee. Dr.
Washington knew that if he could provide something which the
community needed, he would have made the institution indis-
pensible to the people. Therefore he decided to make brick.
The negro leader said it reminded him of the Biblical story
of the children of Israel who tried to make bricks without straw.
Tuskegee had the straw, but it had no money, no experience and
no equipment. Brickmaking, as every one knows, is hard, dirty
work ; and when this plan was decided upon the distaste of the
students for manual labor made itself manifest. Some of the
students showed such an antipathy that they left the school
rather than stand in the mud pits.
When finally the loyal workers had moulded enough bricks
for one kiln, and it was fired, it was found that the work had not
been properly done and the result was failure. This failure
78
made it still more difficult to get the students to engage in the
work, but some of Dr. Washington's assistants who had been
trained at Hampton volunteered their services and a second lot
was prepared for burning. The kiln fell in this instance and
the result was the same as before.
THE CASE SEEMED HOPELESS.
At this stage the case seemed hopeless. There was no
money and there was much opposition to the plan. Dr. Wash
ington was, however, determined. He turned to his personal
possessions and pawned a watch for fifteen dollars. With this
sum he set about making more bricks with the result that his
efforts were crowned with success. The success of this under
taking was one of the big achievements of the early days, for
as Dr. Washington anticipated, people who had previously had
no interest in the school, but who learned that the institution was
making good bricks, went there and made purchases. This
opened an avenue of common approach and established many
friendly relations with builders, contractors and prosperous
persons.
With this story of brickmaking as a nucleus, the occasion
is opportune for briefly citing some of the other work accom
plished by the willing hands of the colored students under the
direction of Dr. Washington and his co-workers.
More than forty trades and professions are taught in the
institution as it stands, grouped under three headings: The
School of Agriculture, Department of Mechanical Industries,
and the Industries for Girls.
The first industry established, that of farming, had for
the scene of the early operations the plot of ground on which
stands in these latter days the Phelp's Hall, Huntingdon Me
morial Hall and the Canning Factory. Now there is an Ex-
MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH. 79
perimental Station comprising about 2300 acres, with about
eighty acres used for trucking to supply the needs of the insti
tution and the town market ; eighty acres devoted to small fruits ;
840 acres for general farming and 1300 acres of pasture.
The crops include many tons of ensilage, sweet potatoes,
corn, oats, hay, greens, lettuce, onions, beets, lima and snap
beans, tomatoes, rutabagas, melons and canteloupes, white po
tatoes and peas.
THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM.
The Experimental Farm was established in connection
with the Agricultural School by act of the State Legislature.
Extensive cotton breeding experiments have been made with
success in this connection as well, and it is a matter of record
that some of the graduates of the institution have been called
by the German Government to conduct cotton growing experi
ments in Africa, and that under their direction was established
a " cotton-growing school and plant breeding station/' which
has accomplished some very excellent results.
There are peach trees, strawberry plants, grape vines and
several hundred fig trees in the school gardens, while as a result
of the efforts in landscape gardening, horticulture and flori
culture the school is surrounded by beautiful trees, hedges,
shrubs and thousands of yards of green lawn.
In the Mechanical Industries Department are taught car
pentry, woodworking, printing, tailoring, blacksmithing, wheel-
wrighting, harness making, shoemaking, carriage trimming,
plumbing, steamfitting, electric lighting, architectural drawing,
mechanical drawing, painting, tinning, steam engineering, brick-
making, masonry, plastering. As parts of the carpentry and
woodworking industry there are classes in wood turning, scroll
80 MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
and machine work, cabinetmaking, and a sawmill, where prac
tical knowledge is obtained in lumbering.
The industries for girls include cooking and domestic
science, dressmaking, millinery, mattress making, laundering
and tailoring.
The opportunities to learn some of these trades and call
ings are in addition to the advantages offered in the academic
department. There is also a Bible School and a nurses' train
ing school, as well as a children's or model school.
MATTRESS MAKING A NECESSITY.
The development of a great amount of this work came as a
matter of necessity, as for instance, when there was no money
to provide mattresses and pillows for the dormitories, the stu
dents filled bags with pine needles, until one day a student be
came his own mattress maker in attempting to renovate one, and
a newspaper correspondent who was noting the industries, in
cluded mattress making in the list of things he saw being done.
The suggestion was followed and mattress making became
one of the industries. Likewise cabinet and furniture making
grew out of necessity. The students could not sit on the rough
board floors and they made stools of two or three boards nailed
together. Carpentry work began, and gradually better stools,
better tables, benches and chairs came to be part of the general
work.
Here in Tuskegee there existed, in fact, a situation which
was typical of the sections of the South where the negroes were
thickest, and so it was that in meeting the needs of the immediate
situation the school solved in a large way the problem of the
negro in general. In doing this it developed the line of work
required by the people in their natural environment. The
institution came to be a provider for the country'round-about
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
A CLASS IN PHYSIOLOGY, TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE
Every member of the class shows deep interest, They are good students
and a successful life awaits them.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, X. Y.
GEOMETRY CLASS, TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE
The coming leaders and educators of the race. These young men are on
edge and all attention in seeking a higher education.
PYRAMID OF FLOWERS COVERING THE GRAVE OF DR. WASHINGTON
MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH. 81
in the sense that it showed its pupils and those who came in
contact with them how to make and provide the things actually
needed to improve conditions.
THE FAME OF THE SCHOOL SPREADS.
Gradually through these years the fame of the school
spread and the demands upon it became so great that it seemed
impossible to finance it. The urgency of the situation is really
what threw Dr. Washington in the limelight. At the most
distressing point when Dr. Washington and his assistants were
struggling to secure funds, General Armstrong, of Hampton,
who may be credited with a great deal of the success which Dr.
Washington enjoyed, invited his protege to go with him on a
trip through the North. The General, anxious to see the school
of his pupil succeed, had arranged a series of meetings, to be
held entirely in the interest of Tuskegee in large centres, includ
ing New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and other
places.
Here Dr. Washington first came in contact in a broad way
with the people of the North and considerable money was raised,
some of it being used for the erection of Alabama Hall, one
of the first pretentious structures put up. This trip under the
direction of General Armstrong was in the nature of an intro
duction to the public and was the forerunner of many journeys
subsequently taken by Dr. Washington in an effort to raise
funds.
Some of his experiences in collecting money are of inciden
tal historical interest, since he came in contact with many prom
inent personages. Dr. Washington says that his first contribu
tion from the late Collis P. Huntington was $2.00, and that he
had difficulty in convincing the great railroad magnate that
Tuskegee was worthy of his consideration. Nevertheless, Mr.
6-W
82 MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
and Mrs. Huntington subsequently made many contributions,
one gift from Mr. Huntington being for $50,000.
The persistency with which Dr. Washington went after
funds is one of the things which made him famous. He always
declared that he did not " beg/' but whenever he felt that some
thing worth, mentioning had been done at Tuskegee, when some
thing had been accomplished, he wrote or had sent to those
whom he desired to interest in the work, concrete statements of
what had been done.
"PUBLICITY AND PRESS AGENT" IN EMBRYO.
Dr. Washington was, in fact, what in other fields might
have marked him a fine " publicity and press agent." As an
illustration of his persistency in this direction it is related that
when he first solicited a contribution from Andrew Carnegie,
the great iron master seemed to not be greatly interested in the
Tuskegee project. Dr. Washington kept approaching or bring
ing his work to the attention of the iron master for a period of
ten years or more. The library at the school was in a little
shanty containing scarcely more than sixty square feet of floor
space. Finally after many efforts Dr. Washington wrote a
characteristic letter to Mr. Carnegie, in which he stated that
Tuskegee had upward of 1200 students, 86 officers and instruc
tors, together with their families, and about 200 colored people
living near the school who would make use of the library build
ing; that there were more than 12,000 books, periodicals, etc.,
gifts from friends with no suitable place for them, and no
suitable reading-room.
He pointed to the fact that Tuskegee graduates went to
work in every section of the South, and that knowledge ob
tained in the library would serve to assist in the elevation of the
Negro race.
Such a building, Dr. Washington said, could be erected for
about $20,000. All of the work for the building brickmaking,
brick-masonry, carpentry would be done by students. The
money would not only supply the building, but the work would
give a large number of students opportunity to learn the building
trades, and help them earn enough to keep themselves in school.
The effectiveness of Dr. Washington's methods is here in
dicated by the fact that Tuskegee has a Carnegie Library Build
ing, which cost $20,000. The iron master arose to the occasion.
The State of Alabama also recognized the value of the work
and increased the appropriation several thousand dollars. Ad
ditional support was also received from the Slater and Peabody
Funds for educational purposes.
HIS FIRST PUBLIC ADDRESS.
The first public address of note delivered by Dr. Washing
ton was before the Educational Association at Madison, Wis.,
where he was invited to appear by Thomas W. Bicknell, pres
ident of the National Association. It was here that Dr. Wash
ington's broad views on the race question and his specific ut
terances as to the methods that should be pursued in solving
the problem won for him unusual recognition. Particularly
were comments favorable on- his attitude toward the people
of the South, and from this point onward he soon became known
as the foremost speaker of his race on the negro and educational
problems.
By way of illustrating how he was trying to win the respect
of the Southern white people for the students and the members
of his race, Dr. Washington told in his address of one instance
where a graduate of Tuskegee, through application of his
knowledge of the chemistry of the soil, and improved methods
of farming, had produced two hundred and sixty-six bushels
84 MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
of potatoes from an acre of ground where the production had
previously averaged not more than forty-nine bushels. This
potato raising, he explained, did not, or was not to represent
the ultimate ambition of that student or his progeny. It was
but a step, the theory of education as applied at Tuskegee being
that by succeeding in this line of endeavor in any specific
line any student could lay the foundation upon which his
children and grandchildren could grow to higher and more im
portant things.
A MOST IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY.
Perhaps the one opportunity which proved of greatest
importance to Dr. Washington came when he was invited to
deliver an address at the opening of the Atlanta Cotton States
and International Exposition at Atlanta, Ga., in September,
1895. The occasion almost marked an epoch in the South in
the matter of fixing a new relationship between the whites and
the blacks and has been the subject of much discussion and
comment.
The opportunity came to Dr. Washington largely as the
result of his being requested to be one of a committee which
went to Washington to represent the city of Atlanta before Con
gress in an effort to secure Government help for the Exposition.
The committee was composed of more than two score prominent
white citizens of Georgia. The colored members included be
sides Booker T. Washington, Bishops Grant and Gaines. In
his talk before Congress Dr. Washington used all the power
of his mentality to make it apparent that something ought to
be done to help solve the race question and bring the whites
and blacks of the South in more harmonious relation, and that
the Exposition would serve to show what advance had been
made by the whites and Slacks of the whole South.
MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH. 85
When after Congress voted an appropriation to the Ex
position and its success seemed assured, and it was further de
cided to have a colored race erect and maintain a building
to show its progress, Dr. Washington was invited to make the
opening address as the representative of the colored race at the
Exposition. The Negro Exhibit was arranged under the direc
tion of I. Garland Penn, of Lynchburg, Va., and included dis
plays from both Hampton and Tuskegee, which attracted wide
spread attention. It was the first exhibition in which the work
of the colored race was to be shown.
OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE TO HIS RACE.
The inviting of Dr. Washington to make an address at
the Exposition as one of the principals had a significance which
to him and to the members of his race had no counterpart in
history. He had been a slave; his early years had been spent
in poverty and obscurity; he was without family, and it was
the first time that a colored man had been asked to speak from
the same platform as Southern white men and women on any
great occasion. An audience representing the best element of
the South would be present and the fact that a colored man was
to make such a speech was the subject of widespread interest.
On the auspicious day Atlanta was packed with humanity.
Negroes vied with each other in an effort to see the member of
their race who was honored by the Exposition officials, and who,
it might be said, was to honor them. Word pictures have been
painted long since of the notable procession in which Dr. Wash
ington found himself on the way to the Exposition grounds,
along with many prominent colored citizens and a negro mili
tary escort.
What occurred is a matter of history in that it relates to
the rapidly changing attitude toward the negroes in the South.
It is therefore important that what Dr. Washington said on this
occasion should be part of his story. He was introduced by
Governor Bullock, of Georgia, as " A representative of Negro
enterprise and Negro civilization."
Looking down upon a sea of faces, men and women in
every station of life whites and blacks all expectant, Dr.
Washington, said :
DR. WASHINGTON'S ADDRESS.
" Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors
and Citizens : " One-third of the population of the South is of
the Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or
moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our
population and reach the highest success. I but convey to you,
Mr. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of my
race, when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of
the American Negro been more fittingly and generously recog
nized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition at
every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do
more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occur
rence since the dawn of our freedom.
" Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will
awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant
and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of
our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom ; that
a seat in Congress or the state legislature was more sought than
real estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or
stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy farm
or truck garden.
:< A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a
friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was
seen a signal, 'Water, water; we die of thirst;' The answer
MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH. 87
from the friendly vessel at once came back, ' Cast down your
bucket where you are/ A second time the signal, ' Water,
water; send us water;' ran up the distressed vessel, and was
answered, ' Cast down your bucket where you are/ And a third
and fourth signal for water was answered, ' Cast down your
bucket where you are/ The Captain of the distressed vessel,
at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it carne
up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon
River. To those of my race who depend upon bettering their
condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the impor
tance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white
man, who is their next door neighbor, I would say, ' Cast down
your bucket where you are' cast it down making friends in
every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are sur
rounded. Cast it down in agriculture, in mechanics, in com
merce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this
connection it may be well to bear in mind that whatever other
sins the South may be called upon to bear, when it comes to
business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is
given a man's chance in the commercial world, and in nothing
is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this
chance. Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slav
ery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us
are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in
mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify
and glorify common labor and put brains and skill into the com
mon occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn
to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the
ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can pros
per till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field
as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin,
88 MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to
overshadow our opportunities.
" To those of the white race who look to the incoming of
those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the
prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what
I say to my own race, ' Cast down your bucket where you are/
Cast it down among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits
you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when
to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your fireside.
Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without
strikes and labor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests,
builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures
from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this mag
nificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting
down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging
them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of
head, hand and heart, you will find that they will buy your sur
plus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run
your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future,
as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by
the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people
that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you
in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed
of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with
tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our hum
ble way, we shall stand by you with devotion that no foreigner
can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense
of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and re
ligious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of
both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be
MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH. 89
as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things es
sential to mutual progress.
" There is no defense or security for any of us except in the
highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there
are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the negro,
let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging and
making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort
or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent, interest.
These efforts will be twice blest ' blessing him that gives and
him that takes/
" There is no escape through law of man nor God from the
inevitable :
" The laws of changeless justice bind
Oppressor with oppressed ;
And close as sin and suffering joined
We march to fate abreast."
" Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling
the load upward, or they will pull against you the load down
ward. We shall constitute one-third and more of the ignorance
and crime of the South, or one-third its intelligence and prog
ress ; we shall contribute one-third to the business and industrial
prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of
death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance
the body politic.
' Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our
humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not
expect overmuch. Starting thirty years ago with ownership
here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens
(gathered from miscellaneous sources), remember the path that
has led from these to the inventions and production of agricul-
90 MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
tural implements, buggies, steam-engines, newspapers, books,
statuary, carvings, paintings, the management of drug-stores
and banks, has not been trodden without contact with thorns and
thistles. While we take pride in what we exhibit as a result
of our independent efforts, we do not for a moment forget that
our part in this exhibition would fall far short of your expec
tations, but for the constant help that has come to our educa
tional life, not only from the Southern States, but especially
from Northern philanthropists, who have made their gifts a
constant stream of blessing and encouragement.
" The wisest among my race understand that the agitation
of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that
progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to
us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather
than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to con
tribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostra
cized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be
ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for
the exercises of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a
dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the op
portunity to spend a dollar in an opera house.
" In conclusion, I may repeat that nothing in thirty years
has given us more hope and encouragement and drawn us so
near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the
Exposition, and here bending as it were, over the altar that rep
resents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both
started practically empty-handed, three decades ago. I pledge
that in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem
which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have
at all times the patient sympathetic help of my race. Only let
this be constantly in mind, that, while from representations in
MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH. 91
these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of
factory, letters and art, much good will come, yet far above and
beyond material benefits will be that higher good, that, let us
pray God, will come in a blotting out of sectional differences and
racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to ad
minister absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes
to the mandates of law. This, coupled with our material pros
perity will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new
earth."
The Atlanta speech was reported in full by leading news
papers all over the country and few public utterances had re
ceived more wide-spread circulation or been more favorably
commented upon.
As an example of the way in which his address was re
ceived, and as showing the effect it had upon the public mind,
the following report from the New York World, by special cor
respondent, under date of September 18, 1895, is reprinted.
THE WAY HIS ADDRESS WAS RECEIVED.
" While President Cleveland was waiting at Gray Gables
to-day, to send the electric spark that started the machinery of
the Atlanta Exposition, a Negro Moses stood before a great au
dience of white people and delivered an oration that marks a new
epoch in the history of the South ; and a body of Negro troops
marched in a procession with the citizen soldiery of Georgia and
Louisiana. The whole city is thrilling to-night with a realiza
tion of the extraordinary significance of these two unprece
dented events. Nothing has happened since Henry Grady's
immortal speech before the New England Society in New York,
that indicates so profoundly the spirit of the New South, except,
perhaps the opening of the Exposition itself.
" When Professor Booker T. Washington, Principal of aft
92 MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
industrial school for colored people in Tuskegee, Ala., stood
on the platform of the Auditorium, with the sun shining over
the heads of his auditors into his eyes, and with his whole face
lit up with the fire of prophecy, Clark Howell, the successor of
Henry Grady, said to me, ' That man's speech is the beginning
of a moral revolution in America/
" It is the first time that a Negro has made a speech in
the South on any important occasion before an audience com
posed of white men and women. It electrified the audience,
and the response was as if it had come from the throat of a
whirlwind.
" Mrs. Thompson had hardly taken her seat when all eyes
were turned on a tall tawny Negro sitting in the front row
of the platform. It was Professor Booker T. Washington,
President of the Tuskegee Alabama Normal and Industrial
Institute, who must rank from this time forth as the foremost
man of his race in America. Gilmore's Band played the Star
Spangled Banner/ and the audience cheered. The tune changed
to ' Dixie/ and the audience roared with shrill ' hi-yis/ Again
the music changed, this time to ' Yankee Doodle/ and the
clamor lessened.
" All this time the eyes of the thousands present looked
straight at the Negro orator. A strange thing was to happen. A
black man was to speak for his people with none to interrupt him.
As Professor Washington strode to the edge of the stage, the
low, descending sun shot fiery rays through the windows into
his face. A great shout greeted him. He turned his head
to avoid the blinding light, and moved about the platform for
relief. Then he turned his wonderful countenance to the sun
without a blink of the eyelids, and began to talk.
" There was a remarkable figure ; tall, bony, straight as a
MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH. 93
Sioux chief, high forehead, straight nose, heavy jaws, and
strong, determined mouth, with big white teeth, piercing eyes,
and a commanding manner. The sinews stood out on his
bronzed neck, and his muscular right arm swung high in the air,
with a lead-pencil grasped in the clinched brown fist. His big
feet were planted squarely, with the heels together and the toes
turned out. His voice rang out clear and true, and he paused
impressively as he made each point. Within ten minutes the
multitude was in an uproar of enthusism handkerchiefs were
waved, canes were flourished, hats were tossed in the air. The
fairest women of Georgia stood up and cheered. It was as if
the orator had bewitched them.
" And when he held his dusky hand high above his head,
with the fingers stretched wide apart, and said to the white
people of the South on behalf of his race, ' In all things that
are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one
as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress/ the great
wave of sound dashed itself against the walls, and the whole
audience was on its feet in a delirium of applause, and I thought
at that moment of the night when Henry Grady stood among the
curling wreaths of tobacco-smoke in Delmonico's banquet-hall,
and said, ' I am a Cavalier among Roundheads/
" I have heard the great orators of many countries, but
not even Gladstone himself could have pleaded a cause with
more consummate power than did this angular Negro, standing
in a nimbus of sunshine, surrounded by the men who once fought
to keep his race in bondage. The roar might swell ever so high,
but the expression of his earnest face never changed.
' A ragged, ebony giant, squatted on the floor in one of
the aisles, watched the orator with burning eyes and tremulous
face until the supreme burst of applause came, and then the
94 MAKING CITIZENS FROM THE ROUGH.
tears ran down his face. Most of the Negroes in the audience
were crying, perhaps without knowing just why.
" At the close of the speech Governor Bullock rushed across
the stage and seized the orator's hand. Another shout greeted
this demonstration, and for a few minutes the two men stood
facing each other, hand in hand."
Letters and telegrams of congratulations poured in upon
the honored negro educator, and he was tendered many invita
tions to deliver addresses. Lecture bureaus sought his ser
vices, several making very flattering offers.
As again indicating the importance with which he regarded
his work for his own race, and showing how unselfish he was, it
is worthy of note that he refused to accept these offers which
could have meant thousands of dollars to him, and continued to
devote his energies in the interest of Tuskegee Institute and the
colored people around about him.
While he was receiving the congratulations of the world
in general, not all of the comments were favorable. Some of
the members of his own race were critical because they felt that
he had not vigorously pleaded their cause.
CHAPTER V.
/
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY.
FOLLOWING the address at Atlanta, which brought him
very prominently before the public, Dr. Washington re
ceived from President Cleveland a cherished autograph
letter, in which the Nation's Chief Executive said regarding
the Atlanta address :
" I thank you with much enthusiasm for making the ad
dress. I have read it with intense interest, and I think the Ex
position would be fully justified if it did not do more than fur
nish the opportunity for its delivery. Your words cannot fail
to delight and encourage all who wish well for your race ; and if
our colored fellow-citizens do not from your utterances gather
new hope and form new determination to gain every valuable
advantage offered them by their citizenship, it will be strange
indeed."
Subsequently, incident to a visit to the Atlanta Exposition,
President Cleveland spent an hour in the Negro Exhibit Build
ing, where he was met by Dr. Washington. Thereafter the
President showed great interest in the work and used his in
fluence in the interest of the things which Dr. Washington was
doing at Tuskegee.
During the period immediately following the Atlanta Ex
position, Dr. Washington made addresses before many prom
inent organizations, churches and educational institutions in
cities and large centres all over the country, and attained a
degree of popularity as a speaker which has not been equaled by
any other colored man, not excepting Frederick Douglass, whose
footsteps he in a manner followed.
95
96 IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY.
But the very pinnacle of his success was reached in 1896,
when, in June, Harvard University conferred upon him the hon
orary degree of Master of Arts. Harvard has in her time con
ferred many degrees, but this was the first time in the history
of the famous old institution that it had placed the mantle upon
the shoulders of a negro.
In commenting upon this Dr. Washington said that the
notification that he was to be so honored was the most surpris
ing incident of his life. He had not the slightest intimation that
he was to be the recipient of such recognition. The notification
from the famous old seat of education came to him while he
was seated with his family at home in Tuskegee.
SPECULATES ON UNUSUAL SITUATION.
Here in the shadow of the institution he was building,
Dr. Washington speculated on the unusual situation that pre
sented itself. His life as a slave, his work in the coal mine, the
times when he was without food or money, his struggles for an
education, the trying days at Tuskegee, the ostracism and pre
judice exhibited against his race these things and incidents
passed before his eyes, and yet he was to receive this rare recog
nition from a great institution of learning.
It was no dream. It was beautiful realism. So, on June
24, 1896, at the famous seat of learning, Dr. Washington met
President Eliot, The Board of Overseers of Harvard Univer
sity and other guests who were to be honored, among them
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the Bell Telephone, and
General Nelson A. Miles, of the United States Army, and,
with all the pomp and ceremony which has made Harvard's
Commencement famous, was marched to Sanders Theatre.
Here President Eliot conferred upon him the degree of Master
of Arts. Afterwards those honored were guests at the alumni
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY. 97
dinner in Memorial Hall, where Dr. Washington in a short ad
dress said among other things :
" It would in some measure relieve my embarrassment if
I could, even in slight degree, feel myself worthy of the great
honor which you do me to-day. Why you have called me from
the Black Belt of the South, from among my humble people,
to share in the honors of this occasion, is not for me to explain ;
and yet it may not be inappropriate for me to suggest that it
seems to me that one of the most vital questions that touch
our American life is how to bring the strong, wealthy, and
learned into helpful touch with the poorest, most ignorant, and
humblest, and at the same time make one appreciate the vitaliz
ing, strengthening influence of the other. How shall we make
the mansions on yon Beacon Street feel and see the need of the
spirits in the lowliest cabin in Alabama cottonfields or Louisiana
sugar-bottoms ?. This problem Harvard University is solving,
not by bringing itself 3own, but by bringing the masses up.
KINDLY ASSURANCES.
" If my life in the past has meant anything in the lifting
up of my people, and the bringing about of better relations
between your race and mine, I assure you from this day it
will mean doubly more. In the economy of God there is but
one standard by which an individual can succeed there is but
one for a race. This country demands that every race shall
measure itself by the American standard. By it a race must
rise or fall, succeed or fail, and in the last analysis mere senti
ment counts for little. During the next half-century and more,
my race must continue passing through the severe American
crucible. We are to be tested in our patience, our forebear-
ance, our perseverance, our power to endure wrong, to with
stand temptations, to economize, to acquire and use skill ; in our
7-W
98 IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY.
ability to compete, to succeed in commerce, to disregard the
superficial for the real, the appearance for the substance, to be
great and yet small, learned and yet simple, high and yet the
servant of all."
How this unusual event was regarded in Boston and
throughout New England is reflected in the following editorial
from a Boston newspaper of relative date :
RECEIVES MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE.
"In conferring the honorary degree of Master of Arts
upon the Principal of Tuskegee Institute, Harvard University
has honored itself as well as the object of this distinction. The
work which Professor Booker T. Washington has accomplished
for the education, good citizenship, and popular enlightenment
in his chosen field of labor in the South entitles him to rank with
our national benefactors. The university which can claim him
on its list of sons, whether in regular course or honoris causa,
may be proud.
' It has been mentioned that Mr. Washington is the first
of his race to receive an honorary degree from a New England
university. This in itself is a distinction. But the degree
Was not conferred because Mr. Washington is a colored man,
or because he was born in slavery, but because he has shown, by
his work for the elevation of the people of the Black Belt of
the South, a genius and a broad humanity which count for great
ness in any man, whether his skin be white or black."
Another occasion on which Dr. Washington was accorded
recognition which marked him a leader in public affairs was
when he was invited to deliver an address at the dedication of
the famous Robert Gould Shaw monument in Boston. The
monument faces the State House near the head of the Boston
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY. 99
Commons and is said to be one of the finest specimens of art of
its kind in the country.
The dedicatory exercises were held in Music Hall, in
Boston, and the meeting was presided over by Governor Roger
Wolcott, of Massachusetts. Again as showing the manner in
which Dr. Washington was regarded by the public the columns
of the newspapers of the period are referred to, and the follow
ing is presented in part as it appeared in the Boston Transcript,
famous for its fairness and honest presentation of reports:
NEGRO PRESIDENTS SUPERB ADDRESS.
" The core and kernel of yesterday's great noon meeting
in honor of the Brotherhood of Man, in Music Hall, was the
superb address of the Negro President of Tuskegee. ' Booker
T. Washington received his Harvard A. M., last June, the first
of his race/ said Governor Wolcott, ' to receive an honorary de
gree from the oldest university in the land, and this for the wise
leadership of his people/ When Mr. Washington rose in the
flag-filled, enthusiasm-warmed, patriotic, and glowing atmos
phere of Music Hall, people felt keenly that here was the civic
justification of the old abolition spirit of Massachusetts ; in his
person the proof of her ancient and indomitable faith; in his
strong thought and rich oratory, the crown and glory of the old
war days of suffering and strife. The scene was full of historic
beauty and deep significance. ' Cold ' Boston was alive with
the fire that is always hot in her heart for righteousness and
truth. Rows and rows of people who are seldom seen at any
public function, whole families of those who are certain to be
out of town on a holiday, crowded the place to overflowing,
The city was at her birthright fete in the persons of hundreds
of her best citizens, men and women whose names and lives
stand for the virtues that make for honorable civic pride.
100 IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY.
" Battle music had filled the air. Ovation after ovation,
applause warm and prolonged, had greeted the officers and
friends of Colonel Shaw, the sculptor, St. Gaudens, the mem
orial Committee, the Governor and his staff, and the Negro
soldiers of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts as they came upon
the platform or entered the hall. Colonel Henry Lee, of Gov
ernor Andrew's old staff, had made a noble, simple presenta
tion speech for the committee, paying tribute to Mr. John M.
Forbes, in whose stead he served. Governor Wolcott had made
his short, memorable speech, saying, ' Fort Wagner marked an
epoch in the history of a race, and called it into manhood/
Mayor Quincy had received the monument for the city of
Boston. The story of Colonel Shaw and his black regiment
had been told in gallant words, and then, after the singing of
Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the Lord,
Booker Washington arose. It was, of course, just the moment
for him. The multitude, shaken out of its usual symphony-
concert calm, quivered with an excitement that was not sup
pressed. A dozen times it had sprung to its feet to cheer and
wave and hurrah, as one person. When this man of culture
and voice and power, as well as a dark skin, began, and
uttered the names of Stearns and of Andrew, feeling began to
mount. You could see tears glisten in the eyes of soldiers and
civilians. When the orator turned to the colored soldiers on
the platform, to the color-bearer of Fort Wagner, who smilingly
bore still the flag he had never lowered even when wounded,
and said, * To you, to the scarred and scattered remnants of
the Fifty- fourth, who, with empty sleeve and wanting leg, have
honored this occasion with your presence, to you, your com-
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY. 101
mander is not dead. Though Boston erected no monument and
history recorded no story, in you and in the loyal race which
you represent, Robert Gould Shaw would have a monument
which time could not wear away/ there came the climax of
the emotion of the day and the hour. It was Roger Wolcott,
as well as the Governor of Massachusetts, the individual rep
resentative of the people's sympathy as well as the chief magis
trate, who had sprung to his feet and cried, * Three cheers to
Booker T. Washington!' "
RISES IN PUBLIC ESTIMATION.
Similar comments were made in other publications over
the broad face of the land, and Dr. Washington seemed to con
tinue to rise in the public estimation. It must be said of him,
however, that with all the attention that was given to him he
retained his dignity and balance, and never for a moment for
got the real purpose of his efforts.
Probably the single address which attracted greatest at
tention, next to that made at Atlanta, was one delivered in con
nection with the Chicago Jubilee, which was held to mark the
close of the Spanish-American War and the restoration of
peace. The invitation to Dr. Washington was tendered by
President William R. Harper, of the University of Chicago, as
chairman of the committee on invitations. The address was
delivered in the Chicago Auditorium on the evening of October
1 6, in the presence of an audience of more than 15,000. Many
prominent personages were present, the event being marked by
the attendance of President William McKinley, the members
of his Cabinet, foreign ministers and many Army and Navy
officers who had distinguished themselves during the war.
The occasion was propitious for Dr. Washington, for
the colored soldiers had rendered conspicuous service to their
102 IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY.
country, and he proved his ability to take advantage of the op
portunity offered him as was evidenced by the widespread re
ports circulated about his address, which was in the main
as follows:
" On an important occasion in the life of the Master, when
it fell to Him to pronounce judgment on two courses of action,
these memorable words fell from his lips: 'And Mary hath
chosen the better part/ This was the supreme test in the case
of an individual. It is the highest test in the case of a race
or nation. Let us apply the test to the American negro.
CHOOSES THE BETTER PART,
" In the life of our Republic, when he has had the oppor
tunity to choose, has it been the better or the worse part ? When
in the childhood of this nation, the negro was asked to submit
to slavery or choose death and extinction, as did the abori
gines, he chose the better part, that which perpetuated the race.
"When in 1776 the Negro was asked to decide between
British oppression and American independence, we find him
choosing the better part, and Crispus Attackus, a Negro, was
the first to shed his blood on State Street, Boston, that the white
American might enjoy liberty forever, though his race remained
in slavery.
" When in 1814, at New Orleans, the test of patriotism
came again, we find the Negro choosing the better part, and
General Andrew Jackson himself testifying that no heart was
more loyal and no arm more strong and useful in defense of
righteousness.
' When the long and memorable struggle came between
Union and separation, when we knew that victory on one hand
meant freedom, and defeat on the other his continued enslave
ment, witH a full knowledge of the portentous meaning of it
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY. 103
all, when the suggestion and temptation came to burn the home
and massacre wife and children during the absence of the
master in battle, and thus insure his liberty, we find him choos
ing the better part, and for four long years protecting and sup
porting the helpless, defenseless ones entrusted to his care.
NEGRO COMES TO THE RESCUE.
" When in 1863, the cause of the union seemed to quiver
in the balance, and there were doubt and distrust, the Negro
was asked to come to the rescue in arms, and the valor dis
played at Fort Wagner and Port Hudson and Fort Pillow tes
tifies most eloquently again that the Negro chose the better part.
" When a few months ago the safety and honor of the
Republic were theatened by foreign foe, and when the wail and
anguish of the oppressed from a distant isle reached his ears,
we find the Negro forgetting his own wrongs, forgetting the
laws and customs that discriminate against him in his own
country, again choosing the better part the part of honor and
humanity. And if you would know how he deported himself
in the field at Santiago, apply for the answer to Shafter and
Roosevelt and Wheeler. Let them tell how the Negro faced
death and laid down his life in defense of honor and humanity,
and when you have gotten the full story of the heroic conduct
of the Negro in the Spanish- American War heard it from the
lips of Northern soldiers, ex-abolitionists and ex-masters
then decide for yourselves whether a race thus willing to die
for its country should not be given the highest opportunity to
live for its country.
:s In the midst of all the complaints of suffering in the camp
and field, suffering from fever and hunger, where is the official
or civilian that has heard a word of complaint from the lips of a
black soldier ? Tfie only request tEaf Has come r f rom the Negro
104 IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY.
soldier has been that he might be permitted to replace the white
soldier when heat and malaria began to decimate the ranks of
the white regiment, and to occupy at the same time the post
of greatest danger.
BLOTTING OUT OF RACIAL PREJUDICES.
" This country has been most fortunate in her victories.
She has twice measured arms with England and has won. She
has met the spirit of rebellion within her borders and was vic
torious. She has met the proud Spaniard, and he lays pros
trate at her feet. All this is well, it is magnificent. But there
remains one other victory^ for Americans to win a victory
as far-reaching and important as any that has occupied our army
and navy. We have succeeded in every conflict, except the
effort to conquer ourselves in the blotting out of racial preju
dices. We can celebrate the era of peace in no more effectual
way than by a firm resolve on the part of Northern men and
Southern men, black men and white men, that the trenches that
we together dug around Santiago shall be the eternal burial
place of all that which separates us in our business and civil
relations. Let us be as generous in peace as we have been brave
in battle. Until we thus conquer ourselves, I make no empty
statement when I say that we shall have a cancer gnawing at
the heart of the republic that shall one day prove as dangerous
as an attack from an army without or within.
" In this presence and on this auspicious occasion, I want
to present the deep gratitude of nearly ten millions of my
people to our wise, patient and brave Chief Executive for the
generous manner in which my race has been recognized during
this conflict a recognition that has done more to blot out sec
tional and racial lines than any event since the dawn of our
freedom
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY. 105
" I know how vain and impotent is all abstract talk on this
subject. In your efforts to 'rise on stepping stones of your dead
selves/ we of the black race shall not leave you unaided. We
shall make the task easier for you by acquiring property, habits
of thrift, economy, intelligence and character, by each making
himself of individual worth in his own community. We shall
aid you in this as we did a few days ago at El Caney and San
tiago, when we helped you to hasten the peace we here celebrate.
You know us ; you are not afraid of us. When the crucial test
comes, you are not ashamed of us. We have never betrayed or
deceived you. You know that as it has been, so it will be.
Whether in war or in peace, whether in slavery or in freedom,
we have always been loyal to the Stars and Stripes."
The text of this message from the recognized leader of the
colored race to the white men of the country was printed in
nearly all of the prominent newspapers of the country and pro
vided food for discussion for thousands of lips.
ACCEPTS DR. WASHINGTON'S INVITATION.
It was not long after this that President McKinley, in
cidental to a visit to the Atlanta, Ga., Peace Jubilee, accepted
the invitation of Dr. Washington to be one of a party to inspect
Tuskegee Institute. The occasion was one that will not be for
gotten by Tuskegee, the institution, or Tuskegee, the town.
President McKinley had accepted the invitation in the spirit
that it would prove of great effect in setting aside race preju
dice and bringing about a better feeling in the South. This was
Dr. Washington's thought and it again showed his breadth of
understanding and perspicuity. Not only did President and
Mrs. McKinley, with the members of the President's Cabinet,
their families, military aides and Army and Naval officers,
honor Tuskegee with their resence, But Governor Joseph F.
106
Johnson, of Alabama, with his staff and the entire Alabama
Legislature, which adjourned in a body for the purpose, at
tended.
Buildings were decorated and the little community nearly
two hundred miles out of the President's regular route to the
Atlanta Peace celebration was the scene of a spectacular gath
ering such as had never been witnessed in the Black Belt of
Alabama. President McKinley on that occasion expressed his
gratification at what he saw at Tuskegee, and the progress that
was being made by the colored people under the direction of Dr.
Washington and his assistants, and in the course of his address,
which was reported by the newspapers of the country, paid this
tribute to Dr. Washington :
SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO DR. WASHINGTON.
" To speak of Tuskegee without paying special tribute to
Booker T. Washington's genius and perseverance would be im
possible. The inception of this noble enterprise was his, and
he deserves high credit for it. His was the enthusiasm and
enterprise which made its steady progress possible and estab
lished in the institution its present high standard of accomplish
ment. He has won a worthy reputation as one of the great
leaders of his race, widely known and much respected at home
and abroad as an accomplished educator, a great orator and a
true philanthropist."
One other utterance on this occasion, which reflected the
high esteem in which Dr. Washington was held and made appa
rent the effect produced by the visit of the Chief Executive
of the Country to Tuskegee, was that of Secretary Long, of
trie Naval Department, who, in expressing confidence in the
progress which the colored race would make, and the problems
whicfi would lie solved, said:
IN THE FULL LIGHT OF PUBLICITY. 107
" The problem, I say, has been solved. A picture has
been presented to-day which should be put upon canvas with
the pictures of Washington and Lincoln, and transmitted to
future time and generations ; a picture which the press of the
country should spread broadcast over the land, a most dramatic
picture, and that picture is this: The President of the United
States standing on this platform ; on one side, the Governor of
Alabama, on the other, completing the trinity, a representative of
a race only a few years ago in bondage, the colored president
of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
" God bless the President under whose majesty such a scene
as that is presented to the American people. God bless the State
of Alabama which is showing that it can deal with this problem
for itself. God bless the orator, philanthropist and disciple
of the Great Master who if he were on earth would be doing
the same work Booker T. Washington."
Could any man aslc a greater tribute?
CHAPTER VI.
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON.
IN the analysis of that great work which Booker T. Washing
ton left as a legacy to the members of his race and to civil
ization, it is impossible to view the results of his labors
without reaching the conclusion that his greatest gift to human
ity was not that which is represented by the material things at
Tuskegee the fine buildings and the beautiful plot of land on
which stands the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
These things stand as a monument to perpetuate his mem
ory, material evidences of his constructive ability, and in the
ways of men they are accepted as proof of his success. But
other men have builded large institutions huge buildings in
the world of science, art and industry, where armies of their
fellow-beings greater than those armies of Tuskegee are
hived. ,Yet have such builders not stood before their fellow
men as honored as was Booker T. Washington.
What was it then that Booker T. Washington gave to men
that marked him greater than any other man of his race? What
was it that drew men toward him and inspired them to acclaim
him before the world ?
The great thing which Booker T. Washington gave to the
world was " Service."
In every line of endeavor the world is coming to recognize
the fundamental value of service. The minister discourses on
"The Brotherhood of Man/' which cannot maintain without
service and " The Golden Rule " contemplates service. In his
boyhood days Booker T. Washington learned the value of
108
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT. WON. 109
" service." That was his religion and he gave " service " to
the world and taught it to his students.
His life should serve as an example for every young man
and young woman who hopes to succeed. His entire judg
ment as to the value of education was based on a very speci
fic view of such service as education might enable the possessor
to render. To this extent he was at times criticised for being
too commercial, or material, and taken to task for giving too
much attention to industrial training or education.
SERVICE TEST OF WORTH.
Culture, refinement, literary qualification and book learn
ing did not complete a man's education within the scope of his
meaning. Nor is the person who can read, write and speak a
dozen languages, and knows art, literature and science, but who
is unable to support himself, educated in the modern acceptance
of the word. Such a person may get much individual enjoy
ment out of his knowledge, but he does not give much to the
world and that is the test of his worth. If he gave more he
would receive more. He has not been trained to use his capa
bilities, to captalize his powers, because he has never learned the
value of service.
The best gauge of education is the ability to use it. Per
haps there may be some who do not reap a just reward for their
efforts but in the broadest sense, when the day for summing up
arrives, it will be found that men are rewarded just about in
proportion to the value of the service they render to humanity.
Booker T. Washington rendered service to the members
of his own family, his race and his country from his earliest
days. He began as a slave boy; he rendered an honest day's
work in the salt furnace and the coal mines at Maiden, West
Virginia ; he rendered service to Mrs. Ruffner service of the
110 THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON.
sort that enabled him to win the friendship of a woman who
other boys had declared was " too particular ' to work for ;
service to Hampton Institute when his efforts in cleaning out
the recitation room were so effective that they gained him ad
mission to the school and got him a job besides ; service to the
city of Charleston, West Virginia, when he stumped the State
to win votes to get the capital of the State located in that city ;
service to his brother and his half-brother when he assisted
them in their efforts to attend Hampton Institute ; service to his
fellow students when he aroused their interest in public speaking
by organizing debating clubs; and service to himself when he
recognized the fact that he was his own master and did the
best work he could for himself, as he would have done for some
other master.
DID NOT WORK FOR PERSONAL GAIN.
Service ! service ! service ! That is what made Booker T.
Washington great. He accepted a position as the head of a
school when there was no school, not because he wanted to earn
the small salary which the position offered, but because he
wanted to render service to his people by providing them with
educational opportuntiies a chance to improve themselves
so that they could render greater service to their families and
their country. He pleaded for an appropriation for the Atlanta
Exposition, not because he expected to realize any personal gain
if he influenced Congress to make an appropriation, but because
he desired to render service to his people in the South by provid
ing them with an opportunity to show the result of their efforts
to progress. He addressed public meetings the wide world
over, not for personal gain but that he might arouse interest
in the cause of the colored race and secure money with which to
provide training facilities for them.
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON. Ill
From the beginning to the end of his career his life was one
of service. When he established a brick yard at Tuskegee, it
was because he saw in such a move a possibility of rendering
service service to the students who would thus be enabled to
enter a new field of industry, and who would also find additional
opportunity to increase their earnings; service to the school
which would be provided with building material, and service
to the community at large, which had no brick making industry
within its confines.
WORD " SERVICE " MISUNDERSTOOD.
The one impelling motive of his life was service. The
great buildings which he caused to be erected were incidental
to service rendered. And if there were no other evidence of
this it might be found in the daily sermons or lessons which he
delivered to the students of Tuskegee Institute. One of his
own lectures had for its title " The Gospel of Service." In this
Dr. Washington pointed to the fact that too often the word
' service " has been misunderstood, and has carried with it for
some minds a meaning of degradation. He also reminded his
students of the fact that Christ said : " He who would become
the greatest of all must become the servant of all."
A brief description has already been given oT the material
things at Tuskegee which grew out of Dr. Washington's life
of service, but he builded out of himself through his person
ality a spirit which permeates the brick and wood and stone
structures. He created an atmosphere in which upward of
10,000 negroes have grown to better citizenship and have gone
out into the world to teach the Tuskegee gospel of service, or
practice it in their own particular spheres.
And the fields into which these disciples have gone to spread
their doctrine! Church workers, missionaries, Bible teachers,
112 THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON.
ministers, farmers, chemists, horticulturists, florists, dairymen,
stock breeders, brickmakers, shoemakers, wagonmakers, car
riage builders, tailors, masons, cooks, dieticians, nurses, ac
countants, lawyers, plumbers, gas fitters, school teachers.
But no matter what their status, whence they came, or in
what particular field of endeavor it was their purpose to labor,
students at Tuskegee from the first were, and still are, compelled
to undergo a measure of industrial training. This because Dr.
Washington believed that the members of his race, particularly
needed to learn that there is honor and dignity in work, and that
no matter how rapid their advance in other directions they could
better serve if their characters were tempered by contact with
actual problems in the field of industry.
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.
In discussing industrial training he frequently justified
his position in insisting that there be no exceptions to this rule
in his institution, by citing how the failure of a student to do
some piece of work properly served to illustrate some needed
lesson and make an impression that the lecturing of days might
not produce.
He many times showed this, as for instance when students
receiving credits on their board or tuition for work done,
failed to complete a task, he told them that they were guilty
of dishonesty; that they were defrauding the school because
they were getting credit for having performed a " service ''
they did not render. To have told a student who failed to pre
pare his lesson in a school of the usual type that he was dis
honest on this account would have been without reason. The
student only injured himself. But at Tuskegee there was, and
is, an economic side. The student is actually an economic fac-
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON. 113
tor is expected to produce in return for tuition or board and
the argument becomes effective.
The criticisms which at times were directed at Dr. Wash
ington were mainly due to the failure of his critics to have a
thorough understanding of the motives which lie behind his
methods; the failure to possess the same viewpoint by reason
of the lack of knowledge of conditions which the great educa
tor possessed. He was not servile and had no inclination to
make any member of his race servile. He was not opposed to
" book learning," or " higher education " for the colored man.
But he said that the solution of the problem of his race depended
upon so preparing the colored man that he could work out his
own destiny. *
FIRST STEP NECESSARY FOR THE NEGRO.
He believed that the first step necessary was to so equip
the negro that he could maintain himself earn a living, and
thereby become self-respecting, while winning the respect of
others. He was primarily an opportunist, who believed in mak
ing the best of the situation as it presented itself, and there
fore advocated training his people to do things which were round
about them. And in the field of his chosen labor he found that
the need was for tillers of the soil and industrial workers farm
ers and mechanics.
He recognized, too, that the white man had become politi
cally independent only as he became economically so, and he pro
ceeded to impress upon the members of his race the importance
of becoming land and property owners, through the possession
of which they would become independent. Not only did he
preach this in his school, but he carried this gospel of property
ownership into the country round about and talked it wherever
opportunity came to do so.
8-W
114 THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON.
His " service " did not, therefore, end with his efforts in
the classroom and in talking for the benefit of the institution
which he builded. It spread out over the entire country from
Tuskegee. One of the means by which his teachings came to
be widely disseminated was through Negro Conferences held
at Tuskegee, for the benefit of the farmers, mechanics, teachers,
ministers and all who could in any way be utilized to arouse in
terest in the progress of the race and the delevopment of the
South.
FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE NEGRO.
The first of these conferences, in 1892, was held as the re
sult of an invitation sent out to something less than a hundred
farmers and others asking them to assemble at the Institute.
These people were told that it was the intention to discuss some
of the problems which confronted them and discover if possible
the best means of remedying them. Several hundred persons,
representatives of the masses of colored people in the Black
Belt, responded to the invitation, and what has grown to be rec
ognized as one of the most important agencies for the improve
ment of the negro in the South was started.
Besides the representatives of the race referred to, there
were also present a large number of educational workers from
various sections of the South, as well as representatives of
prominent publications interested in progressive and industrial
movements. The gathering resolved itself into what might
be termed an " experience meeting," in which those present
gave their views and told of their own struggles, failures and
progress.
Dr. Washington's astuteness in going to the bottom of
things, of finding out first hand about real conditions and then
setting about to provide remedial measures is made manifest
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON. 115
by his comments regarding the conferences. He said that he
soon found that it meant much more to have one man who suc
ceeded tell how he succeeded than in having some one from out
side lecture on what ought to be done.
Beginning with that conference, Dr. Washington, through
some of his representatives, organized similar conferences in
other sections. These have grown in number and have come
to be very important gatherings from many standpoints. Spe
cific information as to the ownership of land, mortgages, the
kind of crops raised, the value of the product, morals and general
living conditions was obtained from the beginning and construc
tive help given.
COLORED MEN BECOME LAND OWNERS.
Here again is shown the result of " service "rendered by
Dr. Washington and his co-workers, for through these confer
ences and others whish are now held throughout the South, hun
dreds of colored men have improved their condition, become
land owners, built new and larger homes, provided better envi
ronments for their families and won the respect of their white
neighbors, besides bettering the general conditions and increas
ing values.
There is an old axiom, "Actions Speak Louder than
Words/' which might well be pharaphrased in describing one
of Booker T. Washington's policies. The axiom should read
" Action Is more Effective than Words." All the talking in
the world will not build a house; all the education which can
be crammed into the brain is of no value if the person who se
cures the knowledge cannot be induced to act. And in teaching
his students to work, Dr. Washington taught them to act ; but
he also taught them to act intelligently.
For those who may not be familiar with conditions as they
116 THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON.
exist in many of the farming districts of the South, it may be
said that the negro cotton grower, and the white one as well,
has largely been the victim of a system of crop mortgaging
which affects him as the vicious " company store order system,"
for many years used in the mining and industrial centres of the
country, affected the daily wage earner irrespective of color or
nationality.
THE MONEY LENDER USUALLY GETS THE FARM.
Under this plan the farmer binds himself and the members
of his family to produce a crop of cotton which is practically
assigned to cover the obligation, to the merchant, cotton-com
missioner or money lender who will advance him money or
give him credit for the supplies he and his family will need
while growing the cotton. It is, of course, necessary that the
farmer have means of securing food and clothing for himself
and family during the growing period, but the whole system is
a gamble. The money lender bets the farmer " his keep " for
the growing period that he cannot raise more than enough cot
ton to pay off his indebtedness ; and usually the farmer cannot.
But it is a gamble of " heads I win, tails you lose " type the
crop mortgage man, or money lender, gets the farm equipment
or the farm itself, if the farmer owns it, in the event of crop
failure. Frequently after the crop has been gathered and
marketed, the farmer finds he was just where he was at the be
ginning. He has to mortgage gamble on the production of a
crop for the next year. He plays a losing game almost con
tinuously.
The viciousness of such a system is manifest when it is
realized that the farmer in many cases has no choice as to where
he can make his purchases. He is bound, fettered, shorn of an
economic independence. He must pay the price asked by the
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE THAT WON. 117
man who controls him with a binding contract. So in the man
ufacturing or industrial centres there have been thousands
of cases where families under the company store order system
never had a dollar of cash to spend. If the little grocer across
the street sold butter at thirty cents a pound and the company
store charged thirty-five or forty, the wage earner must pay
the higher price. Neither he nor his family had cash with
which to go to the little store and buy at the lesser price.
Just as such a system has been frowned upon by those who
are working for the economic independence of the laborer the
factory and industrial workers of the country and has been
practically driven out of existence, so Booker T. Washington
protested against the crop mortgaging on the part of the farm
ers of his race and preached thrift and economy that they might
out of their efforts save enough to buy their own farms and
ultimately be freed from a system of serfdom almost as demor
alizing as that system from which they had been freed by proc
lamation and the shedding of human blood.
And the people themselves are thankful for the lessons
which the great educator has taught. Said Butler Hawkins, an
aged colored farmer, at one of the Negro Conferences :
" Dr. Washington, I wants to thank you all fo' what you
has dun fo' me. I'se wukked fo' twenty year. Befo' I cum to
dese meetins' 'bout all I got wuz wuk. That wuz nine year
back. Now I got seventy-five acre o' land, five haid o'mule and
two cow, an' dey's all paid fo'. I cain't say ezactly 'bout it, but
seems to me I wukked nigh as hard befo', but you showed us
how to git de benefit from de wuk and I'se might glad I cum
to dat first meetin."
CHAPTER VII.
WAS ONCE VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS-
PROBABLY the most startling comparison that could be of
fered to show the wonderful progress made by Booker
T. Washington is that which is provided by weighing
his value as a chattel in the old slave days against his worth
as an educator and economic factor in the world.
In 1908, Dr. Washington visited his old home at Mai
den, West Virginia, and went to the scene of his childhood
days at Haleford, Franklin County, Virginia. Several des
cendants of Jones Burroughs, who originally owned Washing
ton in the slave days, are living in Roanoke, Va. Two of them
went to Haleford to greet the distinguished educator and in the
interesting meeting it was stated by one of the grandchildren
of Mr. Burroughs that an inventory of their progenitor's estate
had been found in which the names of all slaves and their asses
sed value were given.
Booker T. Washington was valued as a slave child in that
estimate at precisely $400. The inventory had been made fol
lowing the death of the elder Burroughs in 1861, when the es
tate went through the Court.
That was the value of the man in the return of the estate
approved by the Court. Yet the world has declared that his
loss to the country and to the negro race is one that cannot be
estimated, and men have had sufficient confidence in him to
enable him to finance and rear an institution valued at several
millions of dollars.
They conceded that he was responsible for an increase in
property values of millions of dollars and caused members of
his race to produce unexpected wealth.
118
VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. 119
Certainly Dr. Washington was an exceptional man, and
the opportunity for such a comparison is unusual, but it serves
to illustrate the need for abolishing slavery as a matter of econ
omic progress, if for no other reason.
Through the Negro Business League, which Dr. Washing
ton organized, he made this fact obvious. The organization
was formed at the call of Dr. Washington in 1900, when, after
touring the country and investigating the status of the colored
man, he determined it would be a wise move to have leading
negro business men gather and discuss conditions looking to the
improvement of the race, and consider economic problems pe
culiar to the negro.
INCREASE IN NEGRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES.
The League, of which Dr. Washington was president at
the time of his death, had celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of
its organization in Boston, in August, 1915, when figures
were presented to show that negro business enterprises in the
United States had increased from 20,000 at the time of the
formation in 1900 to 45,000; negro banks in the country from
2 to 51 ; drug stores from 250 to 695; and retail stores of all
kinds from 10,000 to 25,000. In the first ten years of the or
ganization's existence the United States census returns showed
an increase of 177 per cent, in the value of farm property owned
by negroes, while the increase in the value of land and buildings
of negroes was 293 per cent. The comparative figures in the
latter case showed an increase from $69,636,420 to $273,501,-
In citing examples to show the progress made by negroes
who graduated from Tuskegee and who developed as a result
of attending the Negro Conferences at Tuskegee and Other
places in the South, already referred to, Dr. Washington tells
120 VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.
of farmers who doubled the product of the soil. In this con
nection it is apropos to note that in addressing the Negro Fair
held at Raleigh, N. C, on October 28, 1915, just a fortnight
before Dr. Washington died, Governor Locke Craig, of North
Carolina said:
" I have always heard of the man who could raise two bales
of cotton on an acre of ground. But I have just seen the first
man who has done it. He is a negro named People and he has
raised one thousands pounds of lint cotton on an acre of land.
PHILANTHROPIST AND PROGRESSIVE MAN.
" A man who can produce two bales of cotton on an acre
is a useful citizen. He is a philanthropist and a progressive
man/
The Governor had contained in his message to the negroes
one of Dr. Washington's doctrines that they should stick to the
farm.
' Don't encourage your children to come to town. They
may come to town and get a good job that seems to pay more for
the time being/' he said, " but it is better in the long run for
them to stay in the country where they were born."
Such speeches as this have been delivered by Dr. Washing
ton to thousands of negroes in the South and all over the
country. A great deal has also been done to help the race im
provement movement through women's meetings which were
conceived as an auxiliary of the Negro Conference for farmers.
There were many women in attendance at the farmers' gather
ings, but they took no part in the proceedings. They were
however, the logical home makers and Dr. Washington felt
that they ought to do something and that they could render great
assistance. Here again he proved himself an advanced thinker
and a pioneer,
VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. 121
Throughout the breadth of the land during the last ten
years there has been much talk among the white people about
Social Service. There are visiting nurses who go out from the
Health and Social Service Departments of municipalities into
the homes of people to help the poor and ignorant mothers
care for their children and to show them how to improve their
homes and make life worth living. They report unsanitary con
ditions and urge the mothers to be clean and neat, and these facts
are exploited and published to the world as an evidence of prog
ress and advancement.
MOTHERS' MEETINGS ESTABLISHED.
But long ago, Dr. Washington and Mrs. Washington es
tablished Mothers' Meetings in Tuskegee, among the negro
women, which developed social service work of precisely the
same character as that which has within recent years been ex
ploited as an evidence of progress among the white people else
where.
A bare handful of women attended the first meeting in a
little room, secured for the purpose over a store, but gradually
the women's interest increased and the number in attendance
grew into hundreds. After a while some of them began to
bring their children and then there grew out of the meetings
a sort of kindergarten idea. The children were given simple
lessons, listened to talks on behavior and provided with innocent
amusements in the shape of games to play or books to read or
look at.
Out of this there developed real settlement work ; not per
haps just the sort of settlement work that is done in the slums
of the cities, for the conditions are different, but ignorance
is about the same wherever it may be found, and the trained
worker will meet almost the same problems. In the work done
122 VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.
ampng the negroes around Tuskegee, the settlement house idea
was developed by opening a school, or a home from which young
women of the Institute went out to labor among the women and
children.
SOCIAL SERVICE AND CONSTRUCTIVE WORK.
Ptirely as means of showing in a concrete way the progres
sive methods and ideas that were developed by Dr. Washington
and his coworkers the following has been taken bodily from the
last annual catalogue of Tuskegee Institute. It is interesting
as showing, absolutely aside from what is done at the school,
the scope of the social service and constructive work being car
ried on in the territory surrounding Tuskegee.
' The Extension Department of the Institute was organiz
ed to systematize the school's numerous extension activities.
The actual work falls under what may be described as :
e i. The work of school extension proper, that is, teach
ing the people how to improve themselves through the home,
farm and the school.
" 2. The work of a continuation school which offers to per
sons, who have gone out from the Institute and are engaged in
teaching in the community surrounding the school, opportunities
to continue their studies under the supervision of the Institute
while they are engaged in their work as teachers.
" There is an increasing demand for persons to teach in
dustries in public schools, and to do community work. Excep
tional opportunities are offered persons, who wish to become
extension workers, to become acquainted with extension methods
in the numerous phases of the extension work in Macon County.
The various school extension activities follow:
"The Annual Tuskegee Negro Conference is held two
days in every year in the month of January. The work is
divided as 'follows :
VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. 123
" The Farmers' Conference, which meets on the first day,
gives the farmers who come to the Institute from every part of
the South an opportunity to report on conditions in the commun
ities from which they come, to relate in a familiar way their per
sonal difficulties and successes, and the methods which they and
their neighbors are making use of to improve community condi
tions.
" 2. The Workers' Conference, which meets on the second
day, is composed of teachers, workers and other persons inter
ested in getting first-hand information, concerning conditions
among Negroes and the methods which are being used to im
prove conditions.
ORGANIZING LOCAL CONFERENCES.
" An agent is employed by the school whose duty it is to
organize local conferences in different communities in the State
and visit those conferences already established in order to en
courage and direct them in their efforts to build up the local
schools and improve family and community life generally.
" Community fairs are held under the direction of the local
conferences in their respective communities.
" The Farmers' Institute holds monthly meetings. Simple
lectures and demonstrations, covering the principles of agricul
ture, are given and the farmers are encouraged to relate their
personal experiences in applying these methods to the soil.
The Macon County Fair is held in the fall of each year under
the direction of the Extension Department.
" The Short Course in Agriculture gives the farmers of
the counties surrounding the school an opportunity to spend
two weeks at the school in study and observation.
" The Farm Demonstration Work is carried on in co-op
eration with the United States Department of Agriculture and
124 VALUED AT FOU R HUNDRED DOLLARS.
General Education Board. A number of farmers in selected
communities cultivate a small portion of their land under the
direction of and with seed provided or selected by the Agricul
tural Department. Farmers' Co-operative Schools of Instruc
tion are formed in various communities to carry on this work.
" Boys' Corn Clubs are being directed by the United States
Demonstration Agents.
" Tomato Clubs for the girls are being organized.
" Prizes from five to fifty dollars are awarded by the De
monstration Agents to the farmer having the highest yield of
corn, cotton, oats, etc.
" Mothers' Meetings, first established in the town of Tuske-
gee by Mrs. Booker T. Washington, are now found in nearly
every community in the vicinity of the school. The purpose
of these meetings is to interest the women in improving the
homes and moral life, and in the general upbuilding of the com
munity through the school and the church.
A PLANTATION SETTLEMENT.
:< A plantation settlement is carried on at the Russell Plan
tation, eight miles from Tuskegee, and is an attempt, through
a rural school, to improve conditions of the Negro farmer in
a single community and demonstrate the possibilities of improve
ment by means of plantation life generally.
' The Ministers' Association is composed of ministers of
Macon and adjacent counties. It meets four times a year at
the Institute and takes up those problems which concern the
moral and social welfare of the people in which the church and
the ministers are directly concerned. It has done much toward
getting the ministers to co-operate along undenominational lines
for community betterment.
' The Town Night School is situated in Tuskegee and has
.VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. 125
eight teachers, two of whom are academic teachers and five
industrial teachers.
' The following industries are taught : Cooking, sewing,
carpentry, bricklaying and painting.
"The academic training prepares students to enter the
Normal School as high as the Junior Class.
" The students are mostly from the town or they are stu
dents who failed to enter the C Prepatory Class of the Normal
School.
" A cooking class is conducted twice a week, on Tuesday
and Friday afternoons.
' The students in these classes are heads of families and
women who cook for white families in the town.
RURAL SCHOOL EXTENSION.
'' Rural School Extension seeks to assist and direct the
Negro farming communities in building school houses, lengthen
ing school terms and securing competent teachers. The aid re
ceived from the Jeanes Fund and other sources enables the
teachers to employ the most effective methods of teaching the
pupils and improving the communities, so that the schools of the
county where Tuskegee Institute is located are among the best
rural schools in the South.
" A special supervisor is employed whose duty it is to visit
the various schools and advise and assist teachers, particularly
with reference to the management of school farms and school
gardens and the teaching of agriculture and the industries.
One of the important tasks of this supervisor is the organ
ization of community clubs for the support of the schools.
" As the result of the aid and direction which teachers in
Macon County now receive they have exceptional opportunities
to continue their studies under the direction of the Institute
126 VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.
while being engaged in the practical work of teaching. The re
sult is that the character of the work of a teacher in the country
has gained the character of post-graduate study in the extension
teaching method of the Tuskegee Institute. Teachers in the
county schools may thus fit themselves while carrying on their
work of teachers for the more responsible position of a super
vising teacher and of teaching of a professional grade.
" There are fifty-five rural schools in Macon County which
are now under the general supervision of Tuskegee Institute.
These schools offer opportunities to a limited number of stu
dents to engage in school work and carry on their studies as
described. The facilities offered at present for work of this
character are as follows :
RURAL SUPERVISION WORK.
" The Rural Supervision work of the Institute serves to
keep rural teachers in touch with the methods taught in the In
stitute classes in education as practiced at the Children's House,
the training school for teachers. It enables them to carry out
suggestions for building up the rural schools under the direction
of an agent of the school.
" A model School is maintained in what is known as the
Rising Star community, which is just beyond the Institute farm,
where a combined school and dwelling house has been erected
and two graduates of Tuskegee, a man and his wife, occupy
and conduct a public school. The house contains five rooms :
a sitting room, bed room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a special
class room. There is also a barn and a garden, with horses, cow,
pigs and chickens. The regular class room work is carried on in
this as in other public rural schools, except that instead of
spending all their time in a class room, pupils are divided into
sections and given instruction in the ordinary industries of a
VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. 127
farm community. While some pupils cook, others clean the
house, others the yard, others work in the garden, others are re
ceiving literary instruction.
" Rural School Libraries, circulating libraries sent out by
the Institute Library, contain sets of books for teachers and
pupils of the rural schools. A part of these are for general
reading and the others are professional books. The library
enables the teacher to become familiar with, and make use of,
in the class room, some of the best books for children. The
books of general culture and professional books on teaching
agriculture enable the teacher to improve along lines of general
culture and to make a more systematic study of rural school con
ditions and of the work and place of the rural school in rural
life.
METHODS OF ADJUSTING CLASS-ROOM WORK.
" The Teachers' Institute, which meets annually, affords an
opportunity for teachers in the county to come into touch with
each other and with the Institute teachers. Among the subjects
discussed at these meetings, in addition to those of general class
room methods, are such matters as : methods of adjusting the
class-room work to the needs of the community in which the
school is located; the teaching of cooking in rural schools;
methods of improving the social life of the community; methods
of supplementing the public school funds; management of the
school farms ; professional reading for rural teachers ; corrella-
tion and adjustment of academic and industrial teaching in the
rural school.
" These meetings are conducted so that the teacher gains
not merely the benefit of the suggestions of the other teachers
present, but every teacher is invited and is expected to make
128 VALUED AT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.
real contribution to the knowledge of the problems of the schools
and communities in which they are working."
Here again is an evidence of Dr. Washington's great
belief in the value of service. While his students and coworkers
benefited from the experience they gained in the extension
work, they rendered a service to the people in these many activi
ties which they could never receive in any other circumstance.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CAPSTONES OF FAME.
PERHAPS the incident in the career of Booker T. Wash
ington, which showed more clearly than any other the
high regard which was held for him by the country at
large, was that which followed the election of President William
McKinley, in 1896, when it was suggested that Dr. Washington
be given a place in the Cabinet of the President elect. That
he was not appointed is not of significance. Dr. Washington
then declared that he would not put aside the work he was
doing for his people and go into politics or public life, and de
clared from the public platform that under no consideration
would he accept such an appointment as was suggested.
But the newspapers of the country as well as a number of
persons prominent in public life commented favorably upon
Dr. Washington's eligibility for a Cabinet place, and declared
that the consistent support which the Republican party had re
ceived at the hands of the negro voters justified Presidential
consideration of the appointment of a representative of the race
to a Cabinet post. It was even suggested that, because of Dr.
Washington's success in agricultural and industrial training at
Tuskegee, he should he made Secretary of Agriculture.
The negro leader was, however, called into conference by
President McKinley on questions relating to the colored man
in the South, as he was later called to Washington by other
Executives, notably President Roosevelt. It was on one of these
visits that Dr. Washington took luncheon with President Roose
velt at the White House. There was a storm of protest from
many quarters and some hostility was shown toward the negro
9-W 129
130 THE CAPSTONES OF FAME.
educator afterwards. The incident to some degree aroused, or
revived for a time, a semblance of the old bitterness between
the North and the South. The people of the South feared the
effect it might have upon its negro population and severely crit
icised Roosevelt for extending such an invitation, and as gen
erously rebuked Dr. Washington for having accepted the in
vitation. The North rushed to the defense of the President and
of Dr. Washington, and the work of the latter was not serious
ly affected, for he continued to receive the support of the people
of both sections.
FOREMOST LEADER OF HIS RACE.
Such an incident might have wrecked a less balanced man,
but one of the strongest links in the chain which held Dr. Wash
ington to the hearts of the people was his attitude on the relative
position of the races. By the very circumstances of his birth
he was as much Caucasian as he was African, but the mixed
parentage did not remove him from classification with the race
of negroes. Physically and externally there was no mistaking
the characteristics derived from the African side of his parent
age. He could not have escaped his identity in this respect had
he chosen to, but as a matter of fact, and this is the important
point, he not only accepted the place which nature partly, and
custom wholly, assigned him in the processes of racial divi
sion, but he became the foremost leader of his race in trying to
rid it of false and foolish illusions as to what it might be if it
were to attempt to do things which naturally or inherently
there had never been any experience to show that it could or
would do.
Dr. Washington chose to win recognition for the negro race
by so developing it that the members would be acknowledged
for what they had done, and not because of any particular color
THE CAPSTONES OF FAME. 131
of their skin. He inspired his students to feel a pride in their
race, to develop a personal respect that would win the respect
of others, and he helped make the way easier for generations of
negroes to come. He proved his theory by winning his way des
pite his color.
Something of the exceptional position which Dr. Washing
ton held in the minds of the people is indicated in the story which
the great educator himself told of an experience he had while
making an address in Florida. A typical Southerner greeted
him enthusiastically and declared, " Dr. Washington, yo' are
the greatest man in the country."
GREAT ADMIRER OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT.
Dr. Washington, who had a fine sense of humor, laughing
ly replied that he did not think such a thing possible.
"Who's greater, suh?" demanded the Southern admirer.
" Well, President Roosevelt, for one," said Dr. Washing
ton, who was a great admirer of the " Colonel."
The Southerner had once been a great admirer of President
Roosevelt.
" You're wrong, suh. I held that opinion for quite some
time myself; but I ain't thought so since he asked you to have
dinner at the White House with him."
Another story of the South, which, shows the high regard
in which Dr. Washington is held, is told somewhat at the ex
pense of President Roosevelt himself.
While the President was on his famous bear hunt in Louis
iana, he came upon an old colored man's cabin in the swamp
lands. In the yard were two fine hounds. Mr. Roosevelt
made several ofifers for the dogs, but the old Negro was not to
be inveigled into disposing of them.
132 THE CAPSTONES OF FAME.
Finally President Roosevelt said, smilingly, " I believe
you would sell me those dogs if you knew who I am."
" Sail you dem dawgs if I knowed who you is ; who is yo'
anyhow?"
" I am President Roosevelt," said the Nation's Chief Ex
ecutive, who actually wanted the dogs.
" Huh," grunted the grizzled negro, without the slightest
show of being impressed, " I wouldn't sail you dem dawgs if yo'
all wuz Bookar T. Washington hisself." And he did not.
It has already been noted that Dr. Washington was the
first negro to be honored by Harvard University, and as no at
tempt is being made to present the incidents of his career,
chronologically, it may be appropriately mentioned here that
Dartmouth also conferred a degree upon him in 1901.
REWARDED FOR HIS EFFORTS.
In 1899 Dr. Washington secured what he regarded as one
of his most valued experiences when he went to Europe. The
trip came as a reward for his efforts during a period of cease
less struggle. Not one day, scarcely an hour, had he been re
leased from the burden of work which he took upon himself
in building up Tuskegee.
The negro educator was particularly active at this time on
the public platform, and it was noted by some of his friends
and the supporters of Tuskegee that he needed a change, and
a trip abroad was arranged for Dr. and Mrs. Washington.
The fairy wand was to be waved for him. He who in child
hood had scarcely known a bed, who had lived little better than
the swine in the plantation pen, was to see the beautiful Paris,
London and the wonderful Belgian country, since desecrated by
the powder and shell of the German soldiers.
The one thing that Dr. Washington always warned his
THE CAPSTONES OF FAME. 133
people against was " treading on air/' and he insisted that they
should " keep their feet on the ground. " When the time ap
proached for him to make his journey abroad he said he felt
that some persons might criticise him because he was getting
" stuck up."
Dr. Washington sailed with Mrs. Washington from New
York on the steamship Friesland in May, and landed in Ant
werp. It would not be extravagant to say that Dr. and Mrs.
Washington were lionized during their trip, and though the
purpose of the visit was to give the educator a much needed rest,
with characteristic energy he proceeded to take advantage of
his trips into Holland, Belgium 'and England to study the agri
cultural conditions, dairying, and those things relating to the
people of the soil which might be of use to him in dealing with
his problems at Tuskegee.
HONORED WHILE ABROAD.
In Paris Dr. Washington was a guest at the University
Club at a Banquet where ex-President Harrison and Archbishop
Ireland were also guests. He and Mrs. Washington were also
guests at a reception given by General Horace Porter, American
Ambassador, and many other functions. They visited the
Hague, where the International Peace Congress was then being
held. In London Dr. Washington, at the suggestion of Am
bassador Choate, delivered a public address on the Negro
question, which brought forth most flattering comments in the
English newspapers. His speech was reported at great length
and was sent broadcast over the world. It was in introducing
Dr. Washington at this meeting that Ambassador Choate said
that Dr. Washington was one of the few men who had the
unique privilege of naming himself and that in doing so he had
taken the best name there was.
134 THE CAPSTONES OF FAME.
Many prominent persons attended this meeting including
Hon. James Bryce, who has since contributed to literature a
famous work on America, reflecting his views gained while serv
ing as Ambassador at Washington. Dr. and Mrs. Washington
had the distinction of being entertained at receptions given by
the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, and with a party were
guests of Queen Victoria at a tea in Windsor Castle. Dr and
Mrs. Washington were also entertained in a number of the
best English homes.
It was abroad, too, years after Dr. Washington's visit, that
Andrew Carnegie in an address before the Philosophical In
stitution of Edinburg, paid his famous tribute to the negro edu
cator. This is what the iron master, who has given thousands
of dollars to Tuskegee, said:
LEADER OF HIS RACE.
" Booker T. Washington is the combined Moses and Joshua
of his people. Not only has he led them to the promised land,
but still lives to teach them by precept and example how to enjoy
it. He is one of those extraordinary men who rise at inter
vals and work miracles. Born a slave, he is to-day the
acknowledged leader of his race. Considering what he was and
what he is and what he has already accomplished, the point he
started from and the commanding position attained, he is cer
tainly one of the most wonderful men living or who ever lived.
History will tell of two Washingtons the white and the black,
one the father of his country, the other the leader of his race."
One of the things which Dr. Washington's tour in Europe
did was to intensify, if possible, his interest in the life and work
of Frederick Douglass. He found that Douglass was greatly
respected in England. How near Dr. Washington followed the
theories of Douglass in his efforts to solve the race problem may
THE CAPSTONES OF FAME. 135
here be gauged by reading a letter in which Douglass outlined
his ideas to Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the wonderful
story, " Uncle Tom's Cabin," than which no greater protest
against slavery was ever uttered. The communication which
was written from Rochester, New York, under date of March
8, 1853, reads:
" My Dear Mrs. Stowe : You kindly informed me when at
your home a fortnight ago, that you designed to do something
which should permanently contribute to the improvement and
elevation of the free colored people of the United States. You
especially expressed an interest in such of this class as had
become free by their own exertions, and desired most of all to
be of service to them. In what manner and by what means
you can assist this class most successfully, is the subject upon
which you have done me the honor to ask my opinion
I assert, then, that poverty, ignorance, and degradation are the
combined evils; or in other words, these constitute the social
disease of the free colored people of the United States.
NO FANCIED OR ARTIFICIAL ELEVATION.
" To deliver them from this triple malady is to improve
and elevate them, by means simply to put them on an equal foot
ing with their white fellow-countrymen in the sacred right
of ' Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' I am for no
fancied or artificial elevation, but only ask fair play. How
shall this be obtained ? I answer, first, not by establishing for
our use high schools and colleges. Such institutions are, in
my judgment, beyond our immediate occasions and are not adap
ted to our present most pressing wants. High schools and
colleges are excellent institutions, and will in due season be
greatly subservient to our progress ; but they are the result, as
136 THE CAPSTONES OP FAME.
well as they are the demand, of a point of progress which we as
a people have not yet attained.
;< Accustomed as we have been to the rougher and harder
modes of living, and of gaining a livelihood, we cannot and we
ought not to hope that in a single leap from our low condition
we can reach that of Ministers, Lawyers, Doctors, Editors,
Merchants, etc. These will doubtless be attained by us ; but this
will only be when we have patiently and laboriously, and I may
add, successfully, mastered and passed through the intermediate
gradations of agriculture and the mechanical arts. Besides
there are (and perhaps there is better reason for my views
of the case) numerous institutions of learning in this country,
already thrown open to colored youth. To my thinking, there
are quite as many facilities now afforded to the colored people
as they can spare the time, from the sterner duties of life, to
judiciously appropriate.
COLLEGES OPENED TO COLORED PEOPLE.
" In their present condition of life they cannot spare their
sons and daughters two or three years at boarding schools or
colleges, to say nothing of finding the means to sustain them
while at such institutions. I take it, therefore, that we are well
provided for in this respect; and that it may be fairly inferred
from the fact that the facilities for our education, so far as
schools and colleges in the Free States are concerned, will in
crease quite in proportion with our future wants. Colleges
have been opened to the colored youth in this country during the
last dozen years. Yet few, comparatively, have acquired a
classical education; and even this -few have found themselves
educated far above living conditions, there being no methods
by which they could turn their learning to account. Several
of this latter class have entered the ministry ; but you need not
THE CAPSTONES OF FAME. 137
be told that an educated people is needed to sustain an ed
ucated ministry. There must be a certain amount of cultiva
tion among people to sustain such ministry. At present we have
not that cultivation among us ; and, therefore, we value in the
preacher strong lungs rather than high learning. I do not say
that educated ministers are not needed amongst us ; far from it.
I wish there were more of them ; but to increase their number is
not the largest benefit you can bestow upon us.
GRATIFYING EVIDENCE OF PROGRESS.
" We have two or three colored lawyers in this country;
and I rejoice in the fact; for it affords very gratifying evidence
of our progress. Yet it must be confessed that, in point of suc
cess, our lawyers are as great failures as ministers. White
people will not employ them to the obvious embarrassment
of their cause; the blacks, taking their cue from the whites,
have not sufficient confidence in their abilities to employ them.
Hence educated colored men, among the colored people, are
at a very great discount.
" It would seem that education and emigration go together
with us, for as soon as a man rises amongst us, capable, by his
genius and learning, to do us great service, just so soon he finds
that he can serve himself better by going elsewhere. In proof
of this, I might instance the Russwurms, the Garnets, the
Wards, the Crummels, and others, all men of superior ability
and attainments, and capable of removing mountains of preju
dice against their race, by their simple presence in the country.
But these gentlemen, finding themselves embarrassed here
by the peculiar disadvantages to which I have referred, dis
advantages in part growing out of their education, being re
pelled by ignorance on one hand and prejudice on the other, and
having no taste to continue a contest against such odds, have
138 THE CAPSTONES OF FAME.
sought more congenial climes, where they can live more peace
able and quiet lives. I regret their election, but I cannot blame
them ; for with an equal amount of education and the hard lot
which was theirs, I might follow their example.
" There is little reason to hope that any considerable num
ber of free colored people will ever be induced to leave this
country, even if such a thing were desirable. The black man
(unlike the Indian) loves civilization. He does not make very
great progress in civilization himself, but he likes to be in the
midst of it, and he prefers to share its most galling evils to
encountering barbarism. Then the love of country, the dread
of isolation, the lack of adventurous spirit, and the thought of
seeming to desert their < brethren in bonds/ are a powerful
:heck upon all schemes of colonization, which look to the removal
of the colored people without the slaves.
GROWN UP WITH THE REPUBLIC.
' The truth is, dear madam, we are here and we are likely
to remain. Individuals emigrate nations never. We have
grown up with this republic, and see nothing in her character,
or even in the character of the American people, as yet, which
compels the belief that we must leave the United States.
;< If, then, we are to remain here, the question for the wise
and good is precisely that which you have submitted to me
namely : What can be done to improve the condition of the free
people of color in the United States ? The plan which I humbly
submit in answer to this inquiry (and hope it may find favor
with you, and with many friends of humanity who honor, love
and co-operate with you) is the establishment in Rochester, N.
Y., or in some part of the United States favorable to such an en
terprise, of an industrial college in which shall be taught several
important branches of the mechanic arts. This college shall
THE CAPSTONES OF FAME- 139
be open to colored youth. I shall pass over the details of such an
institution as I propose.
" Never having had a day's schooling in my life, I may not
be expected to map out the details of a plan so comprehensive
as that involved in the idea of a college. I repeat, then, that I
leave the organization and administration of the institution to
the superior wisdom of yourself and the friends who second your
noble efforts. The argument in favor of an Industrial Col
lege a college to be conducted by the best men, and the best
workmen which the mechanic arts can afford; a college where
colored youth can be instructed to use their hands, as well as
their heads ; where they can be put in possession of the means of
getting a living wherever their lot in after life may be cast
among civilized or uncivilized men ; whether they choose to stay
here, or prefer to return to the land of their fathers) is briefly
this: Prejudice against the free colored people in the United
States has shown itself nowhere so invincible as among mechan
ics. The farmer and the professional man cherish no feeling
so bitter as that cherished by these. The latter would starve
us out of the country entirely.
MONOPLY OF MENIAL EMPLOYMENT.
'' At this moment I can more easily get my son into a law
yer's office to study law than I can in a blacksmith's shop to
blow the bellows and to wield the sledge-hammer. Denied the
means of learning useful trades, we are pressed into the narrow
est limits to obtain a livelihood. In times past we have been the
hewers of wood and drawers of water for American society,
and we once enjoyed a monopoly in menial employments, but
this is so no longer. Even these employments are rapidly pass
ing away out of our hands. The fact is, (every day begins with
the lesson, and ends with the lesson) that colored men must
140 THE CAPSTONES OF FAME.
learn trades ; must find new employments, new modes of useful
ness to society, or that they must decay under the pressing
wants to which their condition is rapidly bringing them.
" We must become mechancs ; we must build as well as
live in houses ; we must make as well as use furniture ; we must
construct bridges as well as pass over them; before we can
properly live or be respected by our fellow-men. We need
mechanics as well as ministers. We need workers in iron, clay,
and leather. We have orators, authors, and other professional
men, but these reach only a certain class, and get respect for our
race in certain select circles. To live here as we ought we must
fasten ourselves to our countrymen through their every day,
cardinal wants. We must not only be able to black boots, but to
make them. At present we are in the Northern States unknown
as mechanics. We give no proof of genius or skill at the county,
state or national fairs. We are unknown at any of the great
exhibitions of the industry of our fellow citizens, and being un
known, we are unconsidered.
" Wishing you, dear madam, renewed health, a pleasant
passage and safe return to your native land, I am, most truly,
your gratified friend,
FREDERICK DOUGLASS."
This shows how the mantle of Elijah fell from the shoul-
lers of Douglass to Washington, for assuredly no more vigorous
advocacy of the system of industrial training for the negro has
ever been given.
CHAPTER IX.
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS OF DR. WASHINGTON.
IF Booker T. Washington had any weaknesses, they were
not in the matter of principle. He never deviated from
his principles, which were uniformly of the kind to win
admiration, though his methods may have sometimes been
questioned. He was for the colored man first, last and all the
time. He had no more respect for a disreputable negro than
has the respectable white man, and he believed in obeying and
enforcing the laws.
When Jack Johnson, the negro pugilist, got into dis
repute by his conduct in Chicago, Dr. Washington declared
that he was a disgrace to the negro race. About this time the
negro educator was delivering an address at the University of
Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Since Johnson's troubles in
volved his marriage to a white woman, Dr. Washington was
asked what attitude was assumed in the matter of inter
marriages and what was taught at Tuskegee. His answer
was terse and to the point. " We don't teach it," he said.
One of the negro educator's characteristic utterances,
which was published all over the country, was a letter which
he issued in August, 1908, as a protest against "lynch law"
in the South. As showing his attitude, and his direct and
forceful method of presenting his appeal for the members of
his race, his words are reproduced as they appeared in the
New York World, of August 29, 1908, under a Baltimore
date :
"Within the past sixty days twenty-five negroes have
been lynched in different parts of the United States. Of this
number only four were even charged with criminal assault
141
142 SOME REFLECTED VIEWS.
upon women. Nine were lynched in one day on the charge
of being connected with murder. Four were lynched in one
day on the charge that they passed resolutions in a lodge
approving the murder of an individual. Three were lynched
in one day on the charge that they had taken part in the
burning of a gin house. The others were lynched for mis
cellaneous reasons.
ct One was publicly burned in open daylight in the pres
ence of women and children, after oil had been poured upon
his body, at Greenville, Tex., and reports state that a thous
and people witnessed the spectacle in the open square of the
town. One other victim was eighty years of age. How long
can our Christian civilization stand this ? I am making no
special plea for the negro, innocent or guilty, but I am calling
attention to the danger that threatens our civilization.
A NEGRO CRIMINAL'S JUST DESERTS.
"For the negro criminal, and especially for the negro
loafer, gambler and drunkard, I have nothing but the severest
condemnation, and no legal punishment is too severe for the
brute that assaults a woman.
" It requires no courage for 500 men to tie the hands of
an individual to the stake or to hang or shoot him. But
young men and boys who have once witnessed or who have read
in the papers of these exciting scenes of burnings and lynch-
ings often get the idea that there is something heroic in at
tacking some individual in the community who is at least able
to defend himself.
" No doubt the people who engage in lynchings, and ex
cuse them, believe that they will have the effect of striking
terror to the guilty. But who shall say whether the persons
lynched are guilty ? There is no way of distinguishing the
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS. 143
innocent from the guilty except by due process of law. That
is what courts are for. Those who have examined into the
facts know only too well that in the wild justice of the mob it
is frequently the innocent man who is executed.
"These lynchings terrify the innocent, but they em
bolden the criminal. The criminal knows it is much easier
to escape the mad fury of the mob than the deliberate venge
ance of the law. But no man is so innocent that he can be
safe at all times from the frenzy of the mob.
NEGRO'S UNFAIR CONDEMNATION.
" Statistics show that during the past ten years, an aver
age of thirty-two negroes a year have been lynched on the
charge of assaulting women. Granting that thirty-two per
year are guilty, is that a just reason for condemning over
3,000,00x3 adult negro men who have no part in such crimes ?
Are we as a nation to allow thirty-two criminals a year out of
a race of 10,000,000 of people to throw us into a frenzy and
change the complexion of our civilization so that we are held
up to foreign nations as an uncivilized people not governed by
law or order? Again I would say I am not making any
special plea for the negro, b"ut because I feel that lynching is
not only wrong, but a mistake an awful mistake.
lC Mob justice undermines the very foundation upon which
our civilization rests, viz., respect for the law and confidence
of its security. There are, in my opinion, two remedies
First of all, let us unite in a determined effort everywhere to
see that the law is enforced, that all people at all times and
all places see that the man charged with crime is given a fair
trial.
" Secondly, let all good citizens unite in an effort to rid
the communities, especially the large cities, of the idle, vicious
144 SOME REFLECTED VIEWS.
and gambling element. And in this connection I would not
be just and would not be frank unless I stated that the betters
of the black race could use their influence, especially in the
cities, to see that the idle element that lives by its wits without
permanent or reliable occupation or place of abode is either
reformed or gotten rid of in some manner. In most cases it is
this element that furnishes the powder for these explosions."
HIS CONSISTENCY ON THE NEGRO PROBLEM.
As indicating how consistent he was in his attitude on the
negro problem, two addresses dealing with his favorite subject
and work are reproduced. They were delivered about three
years apart. The first at the Academy of Music in Philadel
phia, in 1912, when Mayor Blankenburg, the Reform Executive
of the City, presided at the meeting, which was held under the
auspices of the Armstrong Association. Dr. Washington said
in part :
" As indicating the far-reaching influence of the work
of such institutions as Tuskegee, Hampton and others, I have
just come from witnessing a remarkable demonstration in the
heart of Mississippi. I have just been taking part in the formal
opening of the first cottonseed oil mill that was ever constructed
and paid for by members of my race. This cottonseed oil mill
cost practically $100,000. This mill is located in the town of
Mound Bayou, Miss., a community composed entirely of black
people, with a black Mayor, a black Board of Aldermen, a black
depot agent, black people in charge of the telephone system in
a word, it is a self-governing, self-respecting negro town, with
a population in and about the town of about 7000 people.
" There were present at this formal opening between eight
and ten thousand colored people, and on the same grounds with
them were many of the best white people of Mississippi and Ten-
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS. 145
nessee, who seemed just as proud of the launching of this com
mercial enterprise as were the black people themselves.
" Starting with practically nothing, we now have at Tus-
kegee a student body of about 1600 men and women, gathered
from all parts of this country and from 16 foreign countries,
and 1 80 instructors and helpers. From practically no property
to begin with, our trustees now own and control property at
Tuskegee to the value of more than $1,000,000.
WORK OF THE PARENT INSTITUTION.!
" Men and women trained at Tuskegee have established 16
branch schools, located in various portions of the South, which
are reproducing on a smaller scale the work of the parent
institution.
" The work of the educated negro in the South is in two
directions. First, the elevation of the negro race; second, the
conversion of the Southern white man to the point where he will
be willing, even anxious, to help in the elevation of the race
through education and through a just distribution of the public
school fund.
' The negro does not ask aid in the direction of providing
himself with the present necessities of life, such as food, clothes
and shelter. These, ever since he became free, he has supplied
for himself and it is very seldom that in any part of the country
one finds a black hand reached out from a corner of a street
asking for personal charity.
" It costs us to carry on the work at Tuskegee, with all its
extension departments, covering a large portion of the South,
about $275,000 a year. We have an income of about $100,000
from our endowment, which we can depend upon. Aside from
this, we have to secure the other money wherever we can get
it, in the form of $50 scholarships.
10-W
146 SOME REFLECTED VIEWS.
" The result of the work of such institutions as Tuskegee
and Tuskegee is by no means the only school performing this
kind of service for the country has, in my opinion, amply justi
fied itself in the change of white Southern opinion toward the
negro, and in the elevation of the negro himself.
" We have laid a great deal of stress from the beginning
upon the importance of our people getting land and tying
themselves to the soil, and this is the doctrine that our graduates
are preaching throughout the South. One result of this in
fluence can be seen in the fact that while the number of farmers
of the entire country increased during the last decade by nine
per cent., the number of farmers in the South increased by 19
per cent. The negro farmers in the South now own 20,000,000
acres of land, a territory equal to that of the States of Vermont,
New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
NEGRO'S PER CAPITA PROPERTY.
" In 1 86 1 the Russian serfs were freed. When I was in
Russia some months ago, I found that in six of the most fertile
provinces of western Russia, 14,000,000 persons had accumu
lated about $500,000,000 worth of properity, or $36 per capita.
In contrast to this, the negroes in the United States, after fifty
years of freedom have accumulated about $700,000,000 worth
of property, or about $70 per capita. In the same Russian
provinces only thirty per cent, of the Russian serfs are able to
read and write. In the United States, while when Mr. Lincoln
freed us only three per cent, could read or write, to-day 68 per
cent, can read and write.
" But the work in the South is far from complete. Race
prejudice, ignorance, degradation and poverty still hover over
and hold back a large section of that country."
One of his last public addresses was on the subject of " The
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS. 147
Education of the Negro," and was delivered before the
National Council, a short time before his death, when he spoke
as follows :
" A few days ago I visited a little colony of black people
near Mobile, Ala., several of whom were born in Africa and
came here on the last slave ship to reach America. Several of
the older people still survive and tell interesting stories about
their early and varied experiences. A little way from the
colony may been seen the hulk of the slave ship on which they
were brought to this country.
AN ASTONISHING TRANSFORMATION !
" This has occurred practically within a single generation.
What a transformation has been wrought in my race since
the landing of the first slaves at Jamestown and the landing of
the last slaves at Mobile. This transformation involves growth
in numbers, mental awakening, self-support, securing of prop
erty, moral and religious development, and adjustment of rela
tions between the races. To what in a single generation are we
more indebted for this transformation in the direction of a
higher civilization than the American Missionary Association?
' No one of the religious organizations which have engaged
in the work of educating the Negro has done a more useful
work than your association. You are maintaining more schools
for the higher and secondary education of the Negro than any
other board or association. I have had opportunities to visit
practically every Negro institution in the country. In so doing I
have been very favorably impressed with the good work which
educational institutions under the auspices of your association
are doing. I have in mind not only the larger and more promi
nent schools, such as Fisk and Talladega, but also the smaller
and less well known institutions.
148 SOME REFLECTED VIEWS.
" Fifty years ago the education of the Negro in the South
had just begun. There were less than 100 schools devoted to
this purpose. In 1867, there were only 1,839 schools for the
f reedmen with 2,087 teachers, of whom 699 were colored. There
were 111,442 pupils; 18,758 of these people were studying the
alphabet; 55,163 were in spelling and easy reading lesson
classes; 42,879 were learning to write; 40,454 were studying
arithmetic; 4,661 were studying the higher branches. Thirty-
five industrial schools were reported, in which there were 2,-
124 students who were taught sewing, knitting, straw-braiding,
repairing and making garments.
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE ENROLLMENT.
" In 1915 there are almost two million Negro children en
rolled in the public schools of the South, and over 100,000 in the
normal schools and colleges. The 699 colored teachers of 1867
have increased to over 34,000, of whom 3,000 are teachers in
colleges and normal and industrial schools.
"When the American Missionary Association began its
work among the freedmen there were in the South no insti
tutions for higher and secondary education of the Negro. There
were only four in the entire United States. In 1915 there are
in the South fifty colleges devoted to their training. There are
thirteen institutions for the education of Negro women. There
are twenty-six theological schools and departments. There
are three schools of law, four of medicine, two of dentistry,
three of pharmacy, seventeen state agricultural and mechani
cal colleges and over 200 normal and industrial schools.
'' Fifty years ago the value of the school property used in
the education of the freedman was small. The value of the
property now owned by institutions for their secondary and
higher training is over $17,000,000. Fifty years ago only a
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS. 149
few thousand dollars was being expended for the education of
the Negroes. In 1914 over $4,100,000 was expended for their
higher and industrial training and $9,700,000 in their public
schools.
" I find that in some instances there is a belief that Negro
education has advanced far enough for the various philanthro
pic and religious associations to gradually withdraw their sup
port and use their resources in other directions. The truth of
the matter, however, is that after fifty years there is still as great
a need for the work of the American Missionary Association
and similiar organizations to assist in Negro education as there
was immediately following emancipation.
A LARGER NON-ATTENDANCE.
"There are about 1,800,000 Negro children in the South
enrolled in the public schools. This is a large number, but not
as large, however, as the number not in schools. According
to the United States census reports, 52 per cent, of the Negro
children in the South of school age are not attending school.
There are yet in the South over 2,000,000 Negroes who are
unable to read or write. Almost 1,000,000 of these are of
school age.
' Although there are perhaps 100,000 Negro students en
rolled in normal schools and colleges, statistics show that only
about one- fourth of these are doing work above the elementary
grades. And only about one-third are receiving industrial edu
cation. In the fifty colleges devoted to Negro education there
are, according to statistics, less than 3,000 students who are
doing work of collegiate grade.
There is sometimes much talk about the inferiority of
the Negro. In practice, however, the idea appears to be that
he is a sort of superman. He is expected with about one-fifth
150 SOME REFLECTED VIEWS.
or one-tenth of what the whites receive for their education to
make as much progress as they are making. Taking the south
ern states as a whole, about $10.23 P er capita is spent in educat
ing the average white boy or girl, and the sum of $2.82 per cap
ita in educating the average black child.
INCREASED EXPENDITURE NECESSARY.
" In order to furnish the Negro with educational facilities
so that the 2,000,000 children of school age now out of school
and the 1,000,000 who are unable to read or write, can have
the proper chance in life, it will be necessary to increase the
$9,000,000 now being expended annually for Negro public school
education in the South to about $25,000,000 or $30,000,000 an
nually.
" In order to give the Negro youth in the South adequate
facilities for obtaining thorough training in normal and college
courses, it will be necessary to increase the little more than
$4,000,000 now being expended annually for Negro higher and
secondary education to $10,000,000 or more. In other
words, Negro higher and secondary education needs about
$6,000,000 more annually than it is now receiving.
" At the present rate, it is taking not a few days or a few
years, but a century or more to get Negro education on a plane at
all similar to that on which the education of the whites now is.
To bring Negro education up where it ought to be it will take
the combined and increased efforts of all the agencies now en
gaged in this work. The North, the South, the religious asso
ciations, the educational boards, white people and black people,
all will have to co-operate in a great effort for this common end."
Always Dr. Washington had a specific message to deliver
and he avoided controversy wherever possible. When ques
tioned pointedly about any subject which he did not care to dis-
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS. 151
cuss he had a way of putting an end to further questioning
without being discourteous or abrupt.
Once after Colonel Roosevelt started on his Independent
Bull Moose campaign, Dr. Washington was asked if he thought
as much of the ex-President as formerly. " I am sorry," he said,
" but you may just leave the answer to that question a blank."
Again when Colonel Roosevelt failed of election, Dr. Wash
ington was asked what he thought of the eampaign and its
result and he gave this homily:
" When a man goes hunting for possum in the South he
uses a possum dog; when he goes hunting for rabbits he takes
a rabbit dog. Colonel Roosevelt went hunting for possum with
a rabbit dog."
WASHINGTON'S PERTINENT SUGGESTION.
When the question of " the high cost of living " seemed to
be the burning issue with the people, Dr. Washington was asked
about its solution by the negroes. " There need be no such
problem for them," he said, " if they will but return to the
farm."
While, as it has been noted in his public addresses, Dr.
Washington felt that the time which was given him to make
his appeals to the public was too limited to permit of his indulg
ing at any great length in story telling 1 , or recounting his per
sonal experiences, he possessed a fund of anecdotes and jokes
which he took great pleasure in telling at opportune times.
Occasionally he used them to illustrate points in his writings,
or to make his purpose clear in conversation.
In showing the conditions in that territory of the South in
which he began his labors, where neither the negro nor the land
was developed, he made strikingly apparent the failure of his
people and those around him to take advantage of the natural
152 SOME REFLECTED VIEWS.
advantages by telling the story of a Southern funeral, which
is about as follows :
The grave was dug in a beautiful pine forest, but the pine
:offin in which the body lay came from Cincinnati. Hard woods
grew nearby, but the wagon on which the body was drawn came
down from South Bend, Ind., and the mule that drew the wagon
came from Missouri. Minerals were in the ground near the
cemetery, but the metal picks and shovels that turned over the
fresh earth came from Pittsburgh ; the handles from Baltimore.
The dead man's shoes came from Lynn, Mass., his suit from
New York , his collars and shirts from Troy, and the only thing
supplied by the county with its wealth of natural resources were
the corpse, the hole in the ground and the minister, who was an
importation.
WASHINGTON'S HUMOROUS ANECDOTE.
One of his famous anecdotes related to his early struggles
at Tuskegee and his efforts to secure the support of his students
in his plans to create a real educational institution. Dr. Wash
ington related with much effect how an ancient colored man ex
pressed amazement when he was requested to make a dilapi
dated henhouse serve as a recitation room by cleaning it.
" Yo' sholy ain't gwine clar a henhouse out in the day
time?"
It was Dr. Washington's custom to speak frankly about the
errors of his race during the reconstruction period and he drew
toward himself some shafts for his criticism of the ministry dur
ing this time. At a meeting of the National Education Associa
tion, when complimented for his eloquence, the negro educator
told of an old-time Southern preacher of the African persuasion
who was not too eloquent.
" One morning when the minister was preaching," Dr.
SOME REFLECTED VIEWS. 153
Washington said, " a head was poked through the vestry door,
and a low tremulous voice announced,"
" ' Parson, de chuch am buhning.'
" ' All right, Brother Spriggins,' the minister replied, ' Ah
will retiah. Perhaps you'd bettah wake de congregation up.'
Another one of his yarns, based on his experience with a
venerable negro while touring the Black Belt in the interest
of his institution, had to do with his questioning the aged black
man about his history. The negro had been born in slavery
in Virginia and sold into Alabama.
" How many others were sold at the same time?" inquired
Dr. Washington.
" Five," promptly answered the colored man, " myself, my
brother and three mules."
LABOR DIGNIFIED IN COMMON OCCUPATIONS.
One of his most striking " word-pictures " is that which he
used on several occasions to show the necessity for training the
negro to put brains into the common occupations of life and to
dignify labor.
" A few years ago," he was wont to say, " nearly every
barber shop was owned and operated by a negro; but the white
man stepped in. He applied modern methods, gave painstaking
care to detail, improved and progressed until he has, not a barber
shop, but a 'tonsorial parlor/ The old Negro woman with her
wash tubs and bare arms is being replaced by the white man
with his steam laundry; the ancient colored man who wielded
grasshook and kept the flower beds and lawn in trim, has no
standing with the white man, who, possessing a knowledge
of surveying and the plotting of land coupled with a familiarity
with botany, is a landscape gardener."
Included among the many writings of Dr. Washington are
154 SOME REFLECTED VIEWS.
the works " Sowing and Reaping," " Up from Slavery," " The
Future of the American Negro," " Character Building," " The
Story of My Life and Work," " Working with Hands," " Tus-
kegee and Its People," " Life of Frederick Douglass," " The
Negro in Business " and " The Story of the Negro."
CHAPTER X.
A MAN AMONG MEN.
ONE of the great secrets of Dr. Washington's success was
his ability to interest the young people in his work
and by his methods to show men that he was able to
do so. Youth is an egotist who does not want to be told what
to do. He does not care for preachments. It is his part to
attain success, happiness and enjoyment for himself. The
" Will o j the Wisp " floats before him. What he wants to
know is how to overtake it.
Youth wants to select the material from which to con
struct the road over which he intends to make his way. He
may not have the power to visualize, but he will appeciate it if
you will help him by painting a picture of conditions so that
he can see tbem. The easiest way to illustrate things for him
is by the use of objects to make truths obvious by comparisons
or relation of subjects.
As in many other educational matters Dr. Washington
was a pioneer in this method of training. He convinced his
students that farming was better than laboring without fixed
purpose or direction, by making a farm of an improved type
44 under their very noses." His students saw the truth of his
assertions. Likewise he proved the efficacy of his methods to
the biggest men of the country by showing them the results.
His illustrations were concrete.
The effectiveness of his methods in reaching the big men
of the world, who have little time for the mere theorist, has
always been recognized. In one photograph of notables in
attendance at the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of
Tuskegee Institute are to be found among others Charles W.
155
156 A MAN AMONG MEN.
Eliot, president of Harvard University ; Andrew Carnegie,
Robert C. Ogden, Rev. Lyman Abbot, venerable editor of "The
Outlook," and J. G. Phelps Stokes. The trustees of Tuskegee
Institute at the time of Dr. Washington's death were Seth
Low, chairman, New York ; Wright W. Campbell, vice chair
man, Tuskegee ; Charles W. Hare, Tuskegee ; Randall O.
Simpson, Furman, Ala. ; Warren Logan, Tuskegee ; Andrew
J. Wilborn, Tuskegee ; Victor H. Taulane, Montgomery, Ala.;
William G. Willcox, New York ; Belton Gilreath, Birming
ham, Ala. ; Frank Trumbull, New York ; Charles E. Mason,
Boston ; Theodore Roosevelt, Oyster Bay, New York ; Julius
Rosenwald, Chicago ; George McAneny, New York ; Edgar A.
Bancroft, Chicago ; Alexander Mann, Boston.
MOVEMENT SANCTIONED BY FAMOUS MEN.
When the movement was started to secure an endowment
for Tuskegee about 1898 and a public meeting was held in
New York city late in 1899, such men as former Vice-President
Levi P. Morton, Morris K. Jessup, Carl Schurz, Walter Page,
C. P. Huntington, R. W. Gilder, LeGrand B. Cannon, August
Belmont, Jacob H. Schiff, John L. Cadwallader, John D. Rocke
feller and George Foster Peabody sanctioned the movement
by their presence. Former President Cleveland, who had also
been invited to preside at the gathering, sent a strong letter of
appeal in which he lauded Dr. Washington and the movement
he was fostering. As the direct result of the meeting some
thing less than $100,000 was raised, including $50,000 previ
ously referred to as a gift from C. P. Huntington.
In this connection the opinion of President Cleveland, who
visited Tuskegee, is worthy of consideration, coming as it did
from a representative of the Democratic Party. Among other
things he once wrote :
A MAN AMONG MEN. 157
" It has frequently occurred to rne that in the present con
dition of our free Negro population in the South, and the
incidents often surrounding them, we cannot absolutely cal
culate that the future of our nation will always be free from
dangers and convulsions, perhaps not less lamentable than those
which resulted from the enslaved Negroes. Then the cause of
trouble was the injustice of the enslavement of four millions ;
but now we have to deal with eight millions, who, though free,
and invested with all the rights of citizenship, still constitute,
in the body politic, a mass largely affected with ignorance,
slothfulness and a resulting lack of appreciation of the obliga
tions of that citizenship.
IMPORTANCE OF IMMEDIATE ACTION.
tl I am certain that these conditions cannot be neglected,
and convinced that the mission marked out by the Tuskegee
Institute presents the best hope of their amelioration, and that
every consideration makes immediate action important, whether
based upon Christian benevolence, a love of country, or selfish
material interests."
Another convincing evidence of the regard held for Dr.
Washington by men is found in the honor accorded him on his
return from Europe, when he was especially invited to visit
Charleston, West Virginia, where he was tendered a public
reception at which Governor George W. Atkinson presided.
It was in the interest of Charleston he had stumped the State
to secure the location of the State capital within that muncipal-
ity. The officials of the city of Charleston, the newspapers,
financiers, business men, ministers and school authorities
joined in the invitation and participated in the celebration
attendant upon Dr. Washington's visit.
Subsequently he was tendered receptions at many other
158 A MAN AMONG MEN.
points, including Atlanta, Montgomery and New Orleans- At
this time lie was in the height of his power and many of his
utterances during the ensuing years, in the light of conditions,
may now be looked upon as showing his fearlessness and
strength of purpose. In one of these southern addresses he
said, among other things :
A HUMILIATING COMPARISON.
" To elevate the ignorant and degraded in Africa, China,
Japan and India, three denominations in the South give annual
ly about $544,000, but to elevate the ignorant, the degraded at
your doors, to protect your families, to lessen your taxes, to
increase their earning power ; in a word, to Christianize and
elevate the people at your very side, upon whom, in a large
measure, your safety and property depend, these same denom
inations give $21,000 $21,000 for the benighted at your doors,
$544,000 for the benighted abroad. That thirty-five years
after slavery and a fratricidal war the master should give even
$21,000 through the medium of the church for the elevation of
his former slave means much. Nor would I have one dollar
less to go to the foreign fields, but I would plead with all the
earnestness of my soul that the Christian South give increased
attention to the 8,000,000 of Negroes by whom it is surrounded.
All this has a most vital and direct relation to the work of this
Industrial convention. Every dollar that goes into the edu
cation of the Negro is an interest-bearing dollar."
On a subsequent occasion he pointedly said :
" Eighty-five per cent, of my people in the Gulf States are on
the plantations in the country districts, where a large majority
are still in ignorance, without habits of thrift and economy;
are in debt, mortgaging their crops to secure food, paying or
attempting to pay a rate of interest ranging from twenty to
A MAN AMONG MEN. 159
forty per cent. ; living in one room cabins on rented land, in dis
tricts where schools are in session but three or four months in
the year, taught in places that have little resemblance to school
houses.
" What state of morality or practical Christianity can you
expect when as many as six, eight and even ten cook, eat, sleep,
get sick and die in one room ?
" What is needed is strong Christian leaders who will go
among our people and show them how to lift themselves up.
FAILS TO UTILIZE RESULTS OF LABOR.
" If in the providence of God the Negro got any good out
of slavery, he got the habit of work. Whether the call for labor
comes from the cotton fields of Mississippi, the rice swamps of
the Carolinas, or the sugar bottoms of Louisiana, the Negro an
swers the call. Yes, toil is the badge of all his tribe, but the
trouble centers here : By reason of his ignorance and want of
training he does not know how to utilize the results of his labor.
My people do not need charity, neither do they ask that charity
be scattered among them. Very seldom in any part of this
country do you see a black hand reached out for charity; but
they do ask that through Lincoln and Biddle and Scotia and
Hampton and Tuskegee you send them leaders to guide and
stimulate them till they are able to walk.
" But the duty is not entirely toward the Negro. The duty
of the Church is also to the millions of poor people of the South.
" When you help the poor whites, you help the Negro. So
long as the poor whites are ignorant, so long there will be crime
against the Negro and civilization."
How deeply rooted in Dr. Washington's mind was the idea
that the training of the negro should be fundamental and that
there be an entire absence of ostentation is found in the regula-
160 A MAN AMONG MEN.
tions which were formulated for the admittance of students to
his institution. One significant paragraph in the Institute cata
logue tells the story. It reads, referring to the admission of
young women :
" They should not bring dresses made of silk, satin, velvet
and fine laces, or valuable jewelry, watches, etc." So, also, any
tendency on the part of the male students to resort to the use of
weapons in anger was guarded against by a provision that no
student might have in his possession or bring into the institution
any firearm or weapon.
WHAT WASHINGTON MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
It is, in fact, almost impossible to review the life work of
Dr. Washington without recognizing the fact that, had his
skin not been black, he would have been a great leader among
white men, and who knows to what eminent pinnacle he might
have risen. It is a matter of record, for instance, that Tuske-
gee was the first school of recognized high literary grade to
introduce Domestic Science as part of the regular curriculum,
with the consequent establishment of a special building or de
partment equipped for experimental housekeeping, with practice
cottage where the young women taking the course are compelled
to actually live and keep house on a specific " allowance " or
fixed weekly budget for a regular period of time. And there
are no " maids " to perform the arduous duties. Everything
from the " washing " to " firemaking " is included in their ex
perience.
Again Dr. Washington's advanced ideas are shown in the
establishment of the horticultural courses for women. On his
visit to Europe with Mrs. Washington the negro educator found
that women were taking up agriculture and horticulture. He
promptly saw in this work an opportunity for the young colored
A MAN AMONG MEN 161
women of the South, and a class was started in connection with
the Agricultural Department at Tuskegee. Thousands of
women are now studying these pursuits in the universities
and schools all over the country, and much was made of the
establishment of a Horticultural School for Women at Ambler,
Pa., about the year 1909, but at that time Dr. Washington's
institution was teaching its young colored women students all
about vegetable seeds and their planting, pruning trees, as well
as how to raise poultry, care for the dairy and raising bees.
It is only by comparison that we learn, and so these points
are correlated and presented merely as a basis for judging the
progress indicated by results in material things, which Dr.
Washington obtained as a negro and for the negro.
n-w
CHAPTER XL
THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.
JUST as he was big, impressive and dignified in the position
he filled in the public eye, so was Booker T. Washington,
the simple, big-hearted, sincere man in the home. In
his shirt sleeves about the home, feeding the hogs or chickens,
hoeing the garden, or giving his time to his children, Booker T.
Washington was fully as interesting and delightful a character
as the Dr. Washington of the lecture platform who enthused his
hearers with his stories about Tuskegee.
The few who knew him intimately paint a picture of him
in his home which is not familiar to the public, for Dr. Washing
ton was one of those rare individuals, who the more he accom
plished the less he cared to say about himself and his personal af
fairs. Even in the stirring stories of his life and of his work,
which he gave to the public, he made no mention of many inci
dents which helped to mark him in the minds of men as a great
leader.
Booker T. Washington loved his home, his hogs, his chick
ens, his flowers everything that goes to make a good home;
and this, of course, included his family. The family consisted
of Mrs. Washington, nee Margaret James Murray, a graduate
of Fisk University, and teacher at Tuskegee, whom he married
in 1893; his daughter Portia W., Booker T., Jr., E. Davidson,
as well as two adopted children of Mrs. Washington's brother,
Laura and Tom, these latter being taken into the family when
his children were almost grown. To those who witnessed the
pleasure that he found in his home environment it was regarded
as a great pity that such a sympathetic, human individual should
162
THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME. 163
not be permitted, because of his arduous duties, to spend more
of his time in his home.
When the crucial period in the history of Tuskegee was
passed and the institution was somewhat entrenched, Dr. Wash
ington and his family of three small children lived in a modest
story and a half cottage. It was one of the cottages provided
by the institution for the use of members of the faculty and
teachers, and there was no provision for entertaining. The
school was gaining prestige and attracting attention, and as a
matter of necessity it was urged that the principal, Dr. Wash
ington ought to be so housed that he could entertain such
friends of the school as he desired, who might visit Tuskegee.
FRIENDS BUILD HIM A HOME.
Friends of Dr. Washington and the school then built for
him a home in keeping with the position which he held. It was
a convenient, attractive structure, with plenty of rooms, well
but quietly furnished. Here with his family he found his
greatest joys during the closing days of existence. Never were
the duties of the great institution he reared too heavy to permit
him to give attention to his children when he was at home.
They were given a most rigid training, but not a training marjced
by harshness.
To those who were privileged to penetrate the privacy of the
Washington home in the early days the children's hour provided
a period of delightful enterainment. After dinner the family
would retire to the living room, where by the fireside Dr. Wash
ington would tell old plantation stories while the children sat on
the floor. Teachers, too, would join the circle and old plantation
melodies would be sung. Dr. Washington loved these old songs
and they have played an important part in developing sentiment
at Tuskegee Institute.
164 THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.
In the chapel at the school the choir of upward of a hundred
voices would sing them as only Southern darkies can sing them,
and on many occasions a quartette of singers would interpret
the spirit of Tuskegee through their songs on the public plat
form with Dr. Washington, who always felt that such a dis
tinctive and delightful feature of the old life among the slaves
should not be permitted to die.
FOR WASHINGTON S EXCLUSIVE USE.
The larger home of Dr. Washington, provided to measure
up to the standards of the great institution he was building,
was erected on a piece of land adjoining the now spacious train
ing field, and within a short distance of the very center of the
school life, or Tuskegee Institute community. The ground in
the rear of the house was designed for the exclusive use of Dr.
Washington. It was his " garden of love." Here he raised
magnificent Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas and other fowl, ducks
and pigeons and full-blooded swine, all kept in fine pens and
runways; and cultivated flowers, fresh greens and vegetables,
largely as a matter of personal enjoyment and recreation.
Dr. Washington always declared that one of the most im
portant lessons he learned at Hampton Institute was the value
of keeping fine horses and cattle, and he never neglected the
opportunity to provide fine stock at Tuskegee for breeding and
study purposes, nor for his own purposes. Dr. Washington
had a liking for hogs in fact the raising of full-blooded hogs
was one of his hobbies and Tuskegee has been famous for its
fine Berkshires.
It mattered not what the conditions, nor how pressed he was,
Dr. Washington never failed when at home to give a few min
utes to his poultry, stock and garden in the morning. Little
difference what hour at night he reached home from his many
THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME. 165
trips, nor how late he retired, he was " on the job " promptly at
seven o'clock ready to " do his chores/' There were students
about the place ready to serve and do his bidding anxious in
fact to do so but he performed them himself. He would
permit no one to feed his chickens, and their eggs were as
precious to him, almost, as diamonds. These he gathered with
delight.
" When I am home I find a way by rising in the morn
ing to spend at least half an hour in my garden or with my fowls,
pigs or cows," he explained. " I like to find the new eggs each
morning; and I am selfish enough not to want any one else to do
this work for me. As with growing plants, there is a sense of
freshness, newness and something quite restful about finding
newly laid eggs. I begin the day by seeing how many eggs
I can find, or how many little chicks are just beginning to peep
through their shells/'
HIS FAVORITE ANIMAL.
His hogs were a source of great delight to him. On one
occasion he wrote that he did not know just how his taste would
strike his readers, but he felt that the hog could be regarded
as his favorite animal. Every morning he would proceed to the
pig pen and feed his swine, and when on a tour of inspection he
would give a great deal of attention to the hogs, of which
there were a large number on the school farm. He was also
quite fond of horses and usually made these tours on horseback.
Had he been so disposed Dr. Washington might have made
himself famous as a raconteur, as his life was filled with inci
dents that furnished foundation for wonderful stories. Every
now and then some experience would carry him back to the
days of his early struggle and he would tell some interesting
: tale that threw a new light on his life, though he usually avoided
166 THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.
the use of story-telling as a means of interesting his hearers on
the lecture platform.
On one occasion his visit to the pigsty caused him to re
mark :
" It was the custom on the plantation where I was born
to boil the Indian corn that was fed to the cows and pigs. At
times when I had failed to get any breakfast I would go to the
place where the sow and pigs were fed and make my breakfast
from the boiled corn. Sometimes I would seek the place where
the mash was being prepared for the cattle and get my share
before the cows and pigs got theirs."
READ A PASSAGE FROM THE BIBLE.
When time permitted after feeding his chickens and stock at
his Tuskegee home, he would wield the hoe and pull weeds until
Mrs. Washington reminded him that his work outdoors must
cease. " Breakfast was served." The meal was devoid of
formality, though Dr. Washington frequently read a passage
from the Bible or some favorite book and offered a brief prayer.
Though Mrs. Washington is the " mother of the young women ):
struggling at Tuskegee Dean of the Women's Department
talk of school work was tabooed at meal time in the Washington
home.
As soon as breakfast was over Dr. Washington proceeded
to the Administration Building and Mrs. Washington to her
desk in the Girls' Building. Luncheon was served in the Wash
ington home at midday and dinner promptly at six. When at
home Dr. Washington seldom found an uninterrupted evening,
but he usually found time to enjoy a few minutes with the
children.
Sometimes Dr. Washington would take a gun and go on a
hunting trip through the woods, but he was not what was re-
THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME. 167
garded as a hunting enthusiast or marksman, and the attraction
for the sport seemed to be largely born of his love for the woods,
the animals and the outdoor life.
A HARD TASKMASTER.
While intensely human and deeply sympathetic, Dr. Wash
ington was an extremely hard taskmaster, not perhaps harsh,
but he worked hard himself and he wanted and expected every
body else to work as hard as he did. He was so anxious to
have his students succeed that he seemed to feel hurt when
there was anything like lack of interest on the part of any stu
dent in his work. He just could not understand why anyone
would not work to improve himself when opportunity presented,
and yet he extended the helping hand and gave constructive
aid to thousands. The seriousness with which he viewed the
necessity for hard work and study is indicated in the rules and
regulations laid down for the students at Tuskegee. They were
subject to strict, almost military discipline, the regulations pro
viding for " regular bathing," attention to clothing, and similar
matters.
The students were subjected to inspection and were ex
pected to not have a button missing from their clothing. In the
dining room the young women and the young men sat down to
gether, the young men on one side of the long tables, the young
women on the other.
No matter where they were at work, whether in the fields,
in the stables, or a building in course of construction, in the
blacksmith shop, or in the laboratories, the students were ex
pected to present themselves with hands washed, faces cleaned
and hair brushed when they came to dinner. And they were
given a limited period in which to make their toilet. Moreover
they were compelled to pay that deference to ladies which is al-
168 THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.
ways expected of gentlemen they waited standing until the
young women were seated before they took their chairs.
A PERFECT GOOD SPIRIT PREVAILED.
And the young women acted as hostesses. There was noth
ing stiff or cold about the atmosphere. A perfect good spirit
and understanding prevailed, but every student was compelled
to observe good form and manners. These things reflected
his personal views as to what was needed in training young
people who had been raised in an environment which in most
instances was marked for its absence of anything that savored
of form.
In the early days Dr. Washington gave personal attention
to many such little details, but in the closing days he became the
real executive and depended upon his assistants and instructors
to get the desired results. He showed rare ability to judge
men and he secured for the heads of his departments the very
best material he could lay his hands upon. In administering the
affairs of Tuskegee, as in other lines of endeavor, he was a pro
digious worker. He could keep a dozen stenographers busy day
after day and be perfectly familiar with all the details of the bus
iness that was being transacted.
He reduced nearly all of his speeches to writing, and
sketched ideas on the trains, or in his hotel, or when waiting to
receive some visitor everywhere and in the most unexpected
places he would be found at work. His contributions to litera
ture were in the largest measure outlined or prepared in this
seeming disconnected way, yet his thoughts tended in one direc
tion. He had one great problem before him and on his mind.
It was his all absorbing thought the amelioration of his race.
So his efforts were in the finality concentrated.
He had a rugged constitution and was regarded as a man of
THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME. 169
great power, but it is doubtful if any other man could have with
stood the terrific struggle, mental and physical, to which he sub
jected himself without cessation for a period of almost half a
century in a life that extended but a few years beyond those
measures of time. Beyond question Booker T. Washington
wore himself out in the service of his people, his country and
his family. His friends and sincerest admirers recognized this,
and it is significant that General Samuel Armstrong, the founder
of Hampton Institute, did the same thing in his unselfish efforts
to educate and lift up the colored race.
TO INFLUENCE CONTRIBUTIONS.
The fear that Dr. Washington would wear his life out and
deprive the country of his services prematurely was used as an
argument by some of the speakers at a meeting held in New
York in 1899, to influence contributions to endow Tuskegee.
Rev. W. S. Rainsford, rector of St. George's Church, in this
connection said, " It is our duty to do for this man what we
failed to do for General Armstrong. We allowed him to go
around the country begging until it killed him."
Though Tuskegee received liberal support and the necessity
for Dr. Washington's begging and struggling for money ended,
he continued to carry the burden of the executive work upon
his broad shoulders until about the first of November, 1915, he
was found to be suffering from a nervous breakdown and was
-emoved to St. Luke's Hospital at Amsterdam Avenue and i I3th
Street, New York.
He had been suffering from severe headaches for about a
month prior to his removal to the hospital and was taken to Dr.
W. A. Bastedo, of New York, for examination, at the sugges
tion of Seth Low and William G. Wilcox, trustees of Tuskegee
Institute. He was found to be worn out. There was a notice-
170 THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.
able hardening of the arteries and he was extremely nerv
ous.
He realized that the end was near and requested to be re
moved to his home. " I was born in the South, have lived all
my life in the South, and expect to die and be buried in the
South," he had frequently remarked to his friends, and after it
was ascertained that his vitality was almost exhausted, he was
returned to the scene of his beloved institution and his peace
ful home. The immediate cause of his death within a very few
hours after his arrival home with arterio sclerosis (hardening of
the arteries).
PROFOUND AND UNIVERSAL EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY.
The death of few men in public life brought forth such pro
found and universal expressions of sympathy, and the mourning
in the colored homes throughout the country and particularly
in the far South, was something away beyond empty words.
Those who knew what he had done for the negro and there
are few who do not felt in the death a personal loss, and they
will find that the loss is greater as the period of his absence
increases.
There were thousands who disagreed with him as to
methods and in principle, but his enemies, strong in their own
convictions, paid him the tribute he deserved.
" For many years I enjoyed the personal acquaintance and
confidence of Dr. Booker T. Washington," wrote Charles H.
Brooks, in the Christian Review, in a tribute to the great edu
cator. " In the work of the National Negro Business League
we were officially associated, hence I had many opportunities
to study the private character of Dr. Washington.
" His public career has been discussed in all the great daily
newspapers of this country, and it seems to be universally con-
THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME. 171
ceded by the editors of white papers that Dr. Washington was
the greatest natural born leader his race has produced in fifty
years.
" Mr. Editor, you have asked me for my personal opinion
of Dr. Washington, and I repeat now what I have often said
to him in private. I did not agree with him in all his views upon
the race question. Some of his plans and methods in presenting
our interests to the dominant race did not meet with my approv
al, but the f ends justified the means/
CONTINUED FIRM FRIENDS.
" Notwithstanding our difference in views on public matters,
we continued firm friends down to his death. He differed
with men, but he did not hate them. That proved his greatness
of character and strength of intellect.
" He was not a haughty and selfish spouter, boisterously
strutting around and boasting about his power and influence.
Dr. Washington gave his wonderfully creative mind to the
greatest constructive work of his people as meekly as did the
Man of Nazareth, who went about doing good.
" The whole nation owes a debt of gratitude to the most
illustrious and useful man this race has ever produced. His
heart was always right. His work will endure and ensue to
the good of his country, while his soul rests with our Saviour
in that Eternal City.
' I cannot say more, because my heart is full of sorrow
at the loss of my personal friend, the benefactor of his people."
While simplicity marked the funeral of the great " Black
Man of Tuskegee," on Wednesday, November 17, 1915, more
than 8,000 persons assembled at the Institute which he builded
to pay respects to his memory. There were prominent men
in all walks of life, negroes and whites, hundreds of students
172 THE MAN OF TUSKEGEE AT HOME.
who had received training at his hands to go out into the world
to spread his doctrines, aged colored farmers who had benefited
by his teachings, mothers who through his influences exerted
on their children were made proud and happy, business men,
men of the cloth, teachers, workers and even little children who
had been taught to revere him.
The services were conducted in the pretty little chapel
of the Institute into which not more than half of those who came
to pay their respects were able to find their way. The simple
Episcopal service, which was read, was punctuated by old plan
tation songs which Dr. Washington loved. Also a number of
telegrams were read from thousands which were received from
all parts of the country and even abroad.
The procession of mourners, which formed in front of the
Administration Building, was headed by the Institute Trustees,
the Executive Council of the school, members of the Faculty and
a number of distinguished visitors.
CHAPTER XII.
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH WRIT IN WORDS OF GOLD.
FEW men in modern history have enjoyed greater confidence
of the people of the Nation to which he belonged than did
Booker T. Washington, and few during their lives have,
had the praise bestowed upon them which fell to the lot of this
extraordinary leader of his race.
It is one of the human characteristics to minimize the
accomplishments of men as they struggle forward in life. The
pioneer seldom enjoys the full fruits of his labors. Too fre
quently does the world fail to return even a fair measure of
credit for the things that man has done, but when he passes to
the Great Beyond it rises and pronounces a Benediction in which
he is praised for his smallest effort.
Just as he was the extraorindary man who rose from ob
scurity to the pinnacle of fame as an educator and the leader of
the colored race, so Booker T. Washington proved himself an
unusual mortal in that he won the plaudits of the world of men
yet while he lived. His praises were sounded in the public
places until at the end of his life's journey the entire country
bowed in respect to his memory, and the great newspapers
and journals, reflecting the opinions of men, added these com
ments in one grand symposium that constitutes his epitaph :
Short of the " Great Emancipator " himself, Booker T.
Washington was the best friend of the negroes of the United
States, and their own tenacity in holding to the path he hewed
for them will be, in great measure, the test of their own ability to
learn wisdom, and of the soundness of the method he adopted
for the solution of one of the gravest of the problems confront-
173
174 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
ing the nation. Fortunately, the foundations he laid at Tuske-
gee were broad and deep ; there are thousands of men and women
trained under his guidance, inspired by his tolerant and practical
spirit, who will carry on his work and keep alive his method.
Washington's vital contribution to the solution of the negro
question was the principle that if the colored people are to rise
successfully from economic slavery they must learn to help
themselves. And the natural corollary to this was the practical
lesson that only by the work of their hands could they hope to
make themselves useful and productive members of the com
munity. He deprecated, and this made him some bitter enemies
among his own people, the mistaken ambition which sought to
raise individuals into positions for which they were either un
fitted, or in which they would be forced into hopelss competition
with the race which for generations had been their superiors
in every social and mental attribute. But he insisted that there
was a need for better trained labor in every department of
human activity, that the negroes themselves were in urgent need
of the skilled services that could be rendered by their own people,
and that until that field was filled, the needless invasion of
negroes into competition with white labor was only productive
of racial jealousies and friction.
NEVER CLAIMED TO BE ORIGINATOR.
Doctor Washington never claimed to be the originator of
the principles and methods for which his great school at Tuske-
gee became the chief exponent. He owed his own training to
white initiative at Hampton, but it was his own energy and
ability, his sympathy and understanding with his own people,
his power to command the respect and support of Americans
without regard to race or religion or politics, that bore mag
nificent fruit throughout the while Southland. It is not too
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 175
much to say that much of the industrial and agricultural growth
of the negroes of that section is due to his inspiration and to the
efforts of the men and women whom he sent out as missionaries
of efficiency and common sense. His place will be difficult, if
not impossible to fill, but his work will live after him, an im
perishable monument to his broad vision, tolerant viewpoint and
executive ability. Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Comment on Dr. Booker T. Washington should not be
based on the fact that he is dead; it must be predicated on
the fact that he has been alive. For during his life Dr. Wash
ington offered about the only practical solution of the negro
problem which has been offered. There have been paper plans
a plenty, and the doctrinaires are always busy.
DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE.
But when the colored man was legislated into the rights of
citizenship after the civil war, the doctrinaire had done every
thing humanly possible for him from the theoretical point of
view. That the colored man did not in fact become a citizen,
that his freedom and his equality were legal rather than actual,
was not a deficiency in theory but a matter of fact. The temp
tation to those interested in benefiting the negro was to scold
the whites for their refusal to recognize him. Race pride
protested against Jim Crow cars, segregation in theatres, re
strictions in residence.
This is precisely the kind of work Dr. Washington did not
do. He seldom scolded the whites, and took his rebuffs with
philosophy. Instead of calling upon the colored men to assert
their rights, he set out to eradicate those negro characteristics
which made it impossible for negroes to achieve rights. His
idea was that they should earn their place in the community.
The legal bars were broken down when the amendment to the
1 76 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
constitution was passed, but the human bars were not broken
down. It was these bars which Dr. Washington attempted to
demolish.
No laws can solve the problem of the colored race in
America. More men like Dr. Washington may be able to do
so. Chicago Tribune.
In his autobiography, " Up from Slavery/' Booker T.
Washington described the humble beginnings of Tuskegee In
stitute in a " little old shanty and the abandoned church which
the good colored people of the town of Tuskegee had kindly
loaned us for the accommodation of the classes." During
the thirty-four years which have passed since then, Tuskegee
Institute has grown enormously. Beginning with thirty pupils,
it now has about 2,500. It owns 1 1 1 buildings and 3,500 acres
of land.
EFFECT OF TRAINING ON COLORED RACE.
But it is not upon these mere material manifestations of
success and prosperity that the chief value of the institution
rests. The measure of that value is the effect of its training
on members of the colored race. Like the school at which he
received his education, Hampton Institute, Dr. Washington
made Tuskegee a normal and industrial school. He said:
" In our industrial teaching we keep three things in mind : First,
that the student shall be so educated that he shall be enabled to
meet conditions as they exist now, in the part of the South where
he lives in a word, to be able to do the thing which the world
wants done ; second, that every student who is graduated from
the school shall have enough skill, coupled with intelligence and
moral character, to enable him to make a living for himself and
others ; third, to send every graduate out feeling and knowing
that labor is dignified and beautiful to make each one love
labor instead of trying to escape it."
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 177
This ideal, steadily kept in view, has been realized. The
effect of such training on the race of which Dr. Washington
was a member has been markedly beneficial. When he was
given an honorary degree from Harvard University, Dr. Wash
ington said : " This country demands that every race shall meas
ure itself by the American standard." With diligence, intelli
gence, energy and painstaking care, Dr. Washington sought
to show his race what that standard requires. Now his earthly
career ended, he has left a monument that will endure. As a
builder of character, the essential element of good citizenship,
he proved himself one of the most useful of Americans.
Chicago Daily News.
Botanists tell us that a mushroom, pushed up by the spirit
of growth within it, can lift a stone weighing hundreds of
pounds. Some boys are born with the same lifting power.
Nothing can keep them down.
SLAVE BABIES ALL ALIKE.
No one looking at the little mulatto baby born on the Talia-
ferro plantation in Franklin County, Virginia, in 1857 or 1858,
could see any difference between him and any other slave baby
born that year. There was something in him, however, which
made it possible for him to push his head up through all the
heavy burdens of centuries of ancestral slavery and economic
dependence until he stood on a level, so far as achievement is
concerned, with the great men of his generation.
He worked in a furnace when he was a small boy, and was
occupied from early morning till late at night. The boys with
him had no ambition beyond working as laborers for the rest
of their lives. But this boy had something besides a wishbone
in his back. He got some books and learned to read. He
arranged to go to school a few hours in the morning and made
12-W
178 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
good use of his time. He heard of Hampton Institute, opened
for the education of such as he, and he made his way there, ar
riving with fifty cents in his pocket. He worked for his board
and worked for an education at the same time, and in the course
of a few years became a teacher in the Institute. When some
people in Alabama wanted to organize a school for educating
the negroes they journeyed to Hampton for a man to take
charge. This young teacher was the only one there qualified to
take the place. He went to Tuskegee and began to work for the
elevation of his race, not to make scholars of them, but to qualify
them for greater industrial efficiency. His efforts commended
themselves not only to his race, but to patriotic citizens inter
ested in solving the problem of the South, and the school grew
till it now has 1,500 students and the respect of North and
South.
OVERCAME ALL HANDICAPS.
Booker Washington was one of the great men of America
because he proved that he could overcome all the handicaps
that poverty and ignorance had put upon him at his birth and
because he was able to see that what his race needed was indus
trial rather than scholastic training.
Every whimpering youth who says that he has no chance
to get on ought to read the story of this negro and then gro and
blush for shame at his own incompetence. Phiia. Ledger.
Booker Taltaferro Washington was a great American.
So great was he, indeed, that it will take a long vista of time to
place his life in its proper perspective. What he did and what
he tried to do reach too far into the past and too deep into the
future to permit a verdict now upon his work and his vision.
To us to-day, however, both vision and work seem to meet
the tests imposed by life upon the influences which in the long
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 179
run affect it most vitally. They did not comprise the radical
views of the needs of the negro's struggle upward. They did
not start out with the itinerant and uncompromising demand that
negro equality be instantly recognized by the South. They
did not accept the idea of radicals like Dr. W. E. du Bois that
the position of the negro in America is due not to a race dis
tinction, but to a social prejudice left from the name of " slave."
Nor did they include the du Bois belief in a militant upholding
of the negro's right.
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.
Booker Washington turned resolutely away from such
great theories and as resolutely faced lesser actualities. He
sought the upbuilding of his race not by propaganda and asser
tion of " rights," but on the sound and simple basis of indus
trial education. It always seemed to us that he was quite will
ing to let the question of negro equality in a social sense take
care of itself when once the negro himself had become a sound
economic unit, living in thrifty households where self-respect
was possible and carrying on successful enterprises that com
pelled the business respect of others. If the 10,000,000 Amer
ican negroes could, in the aggregate, be made nothing more
than a sound farming class, owning their own homes and not
existing merely as " cotton labor," it seemed to us that Dr.
Washington could rightly have felt he had put the feet of his
race upon the first rung of the ladder.
This vision in the end comes pretty nearly around the circle
to meet the vision of the more radical thinkers. After all, the
solid, unromantic things of life, like prosperity and efficiency,
even within a limited field, are the materials which build respect
for men among other men.
It was in this practical way, too, rather than in the extreme
180 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
intellectual way that Dr. Washington opposed the race lynchings
which have so long disgraced the South and part of the North,
including even our own State of Illinois. He did not start out
by bitter denunciations of these tragedies, as well he might.
On the contrary, he attacked them thru the cool and impersonal
presentation of facts. He gathered statistics of lynchings from
year to year. He analyzed their causes. He was the first to
bring to the general knowledge of the country that these kill
ings were not due entirely, or even in the majority, to the one
" unforgivable crime " in Dixie.
DID THE COMMON-SENSE THING.
Dr. Washington did the common-sense thing that was
nearest to hand. He did it as a coal miner in West Virginia
when he first heard of the Hampton Institute which General
S. C. Armstrong had had the true statesmanship to found
to develop the freed negroes into agriculturists and teachers.
Washington walked all the way to Hampton, worked his way
through the college as a janitor, and then, when he had complet
ed his education, turned the Hampton idea into the Tuskegee
Institute. From a little collection of shacks this school for
the manual training of negro boys and girls has grown to an
institution with a plant and endowment of over $3,000,000.
Nor is this all. From Tuskegee other negro industrial
colleges, like Snow Hill and Utica, have sprung. From Tuske
gee has come, too, this splendid new idea which Mr. Julius Ros-
enwald of this city has financed, the establisment of little schools
for colored children in the rural districts of Alabama. Some
seventy of these already have been established, and, as Mr.
William C. Graves said in The Post, yesterday, they have
changed the faces of whole neighborhoods from shiftlessness
to thrift.
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 181
Dr. Du Bois (Editor of " The Crisis "), the leader of the
more radical group of negroes, has a fine mind and an unques
tioned sincerity. He, doubtless, has his place in the movement
of uplifting his people. But, in our judgment, the more the
country understands the work of Booker T. Washington, the
higher will its estimate of him rise.
SEEKING CONCILIATION.
To wage a military campaign for the rights of the negro,
as Mr. du Bois is doing, appeals to the sympathies. But we
believe that the verdict of time will give to Dr. Washington
the palm for the greater accomplishment in seeking concilia
tion rather than the deepening of hatreds, in bearing wrongs
with infinite patience instead of breaking out in revolt against
them, and in making his people intrinsically worthy, of the
things denied them.
Much as Booker T. Washington did not fulfill his ideal, his
work had really but just been begun. Not only as a memorial to
him but also as a duty to the republic should his fellow citizens,
black and white, take upon their shoulders the responsibilities
of continuing and strengthening the school at Tuskegee. Here
is a monument that will serve us all in serving his name. c. Post.
The death of Booker T. Washington is a national misfor
tune, for his life was a national benefaction. He stood head
and shoulders above any man of his race, and his towering
figure for more than a generation was a pillar of fire to light
his people out of the darkness of ignorance, indolence and error.
He was the Negroes' wisest, bravest teacher and leader.
He saw as none more clearly the black man's shortcom
ings and possibilities, his needs and his hope. He devoted his
life every day of it, every energy of it to bringing the descen
dants of the slaves to see these things as he saw them, to setting
182 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
their feet upon the one path that opens their way to real free
dom, material independence, respected and self-respecting cit
izenship. His work, great in its purpose, great in its results,
was monumental. Now that he has laid it down, may there be
others as able, as devoted to take it up. But where are they?
Louisville Courier- Journal.
DESERVED RESPECT OF CONTEMPORARIES
Dr. Booker T. Washington earned and was entitled to the
respect of his contemporaries. He saw dimly at first, but more
surely as time passed on, the possibility of providing such educa
tion for the colored youth as would make the recipients of it of
benefit to themselves and to the generation in which they lived.
The great thing Dr. Washington did, the most useful thing,
was to teach that all labor is honorable. The Tuskegee Insti
tute work is based on that principle. Mobile Register.
Booker T. Washington was the greatest Negro that ever
lived. Washington was great for a number of reasons. His
life was a life of service to his race in particular and to the
white race incidentally. He was the most wholesome influence
that ever fell upon the Negro race from within. He did not
teach a false and hopeless doctrine. He taught the virtue and
power of labor, he counseled his people to stay in the South,
to keep clean, to be honest, to be thrifty and acquire homes;
he taught them to look upon the white people of the South as
their friends ; he inveighed, in his speeches and writings, against
social equality, by his integrity of purpose and the rectitude
of his conduct.
Washington had more influence among white people than
any other Negro that ever lived'. He caused the Negroes'
understanding of his true relation to the dominant race to
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 183
be restored ; he caused the white race to think more sympathet
ically of the Nergo race. Montgomery Advertiser.
Booker Washington's death is a loss to the Negro race, to
the South and to the nation. Unquestionably this man in his
nearly sixty years of life accorded him accomplished more for
his race and section than any other colored man who has lived.
His theory of the solution of the race problem was practical.
Chattanooga News.
He was born a slave. He obtained an education by extra
ordinary efforts and sacrifices. He died one of the foremost ed
ucators in the country and the highly respected friend of many
of the most eminent white men.
GREATEST MAN OF HIS RACE.
He was the greatest man of his race because, far and
beyond any other man born in this country of African descent,
he recognized what was essential to the advance of the negro.
It was property. All civilization rests upon an economic basis
but not all white men recognize this, and few black men do.
Dr. Washington alienated many of the more prominent men
of the negro race because he put this economic consideration
first. He was not infrequently declared to be a traitor to his
race because he refused to talk about social equality and political
rights, and kept steadily teaching his people how to get good
wages, to raise a pig, to get more than one bale of cotton from
four acres, and to acquire the ownership of the land they tilled.
He was accused of irreligion and of gross materialism because
in season and out of season he kept hammering into the minds
of the colored people the idea of thrift. He did not sacrifice
religion; he was no materialist and he was not indifferent to
social and political equality, but he was profoundly impressed
184 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
with Poor Richard's experience, that when he had a pig and a
cow, his neighbors bade him good morning.
Booker T. Washington put his whole philosophy of the
elevation of the colored people of the United States into his
dictum that it was more important to a negro to be able to earn
$3.00 a day than it was to be able to spend $3.00 of an evening,
taking his wife to the theatre. This infuriated many of his
people, and he was often badly treated by them and sometimes
he was nearly mobbed. They wanted to attack a proscription
of his race that excluded them from the best seats in the
theatres.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EQUALITY.
But Dr. Washington understood perfectly well that the
negroes could assume social and political equality with the
whites only after they had attained economic equality. He put
first that which must come first in the order of time, and by so
doing he won friends among the influential white men of the
South, and did very much to undermine race prejudice. He
taught self-respect to the negroes. While some other educated
men of his race were eating their hearts out because of the dis
criminations they suffered on account of their color, Booker T.
Washington went around telling people he was proud of being
a negro and teaching the negroes how to become independent
of the white people ; to have their trades and farms ; to do good
work and get good wages and save a good deal of their money
to put into land and buildings and stock.
It was only by becoming economically independent that the
white man became politically independent, and Dr. Washington
was discerning enough to see that, and forceful enough to press
it constantly upon his people, and no other man has done as much
as he did to make the colored man a self-respecting and a re
spected member of the commuinty. Philadelphia Record.
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 185
Industry and thrift were the gospel of this leader, and he
preached and practiced it with a vigor that could not fail to win.
He caught the inspiration at Hampton and was among the first
of American negroes to see, in the large way, that the equality
for which his race ought to strive was economic, not social.
He knew that talking about equality was not the way to get it,
but that it had to be earned. Land to till, stock to raise and
money to put in the bank and take care of for the rainy day, that
was the doctrine and method of progress that Dr. Washington
believed in and taught many of his people to follow with success.
A MONUMENT TO HIS MEMORY.
Tuskegee Institute is as fine a monument as any man,
white or black, could wish to leave behind for the perpetuation
of his name, and it is due to the indefatigable labors of Dr.
Washington that it was erected. Starting with a modest little
building little more than a shack it is one of the most notable
educational institutions in the South and shares with the famous
Hampton Institute, where its founder was schooled, the distinc
tion of leading the negro people in their search for civic, moral
and economic ideals. Evening Bulletin, (Philadelphia).
The death of Booker T. Washington has removed one of
the most remarkable men of the country and the time in which
he lived ; one who has done a great and much-needed work, and
one whose place it will be difficult to supply.
Booker T. Washington recognized the real needs of the
Southern Negroes in the matter of education and training
as no one attempting that important work had done before him,
and he has accomplished more in a practical way for the ad
vancement and uplift of the race than has come from any other
source. Nashville Banner.
Dr. Booker T. Washington, the greatest leader the Afro-
186 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
American race produced since the death of Frederick Douglass,
is no more. All that was mortal of this great man was
consigned to Mother Earth at Tuskegee, Ala., within the shadow
of his greatest monument, Tuskegee Institute. The race, as
well as nation, mourns his demise and feels that a great leader
has fallen, his work all too soon brought to an end. Inasmuch
as we all feel that a great personality has been removed from our
midst, we believe the influence of the great work which was
started at Tuskegee and has spread even beyond the bounds
of his native country, will continue to radiate and develop as
the years come and go.
A GREAT AND HEROIC CHARACTER.
Dr. Washington was a great and heroic character and was
a champion not only of his own race, but the white race as well,
The writer enjoyed the personal acquaintance of Dr. Wash
ington from the first time he visited Philadelphia, in the year
1895, to ^e time of his death, and was impressed with the fact
that the great burden of how best to improve the economic condi
tion of the race with which he was identified seemed to weigh
heavily upon his heart. His greatest ambition was to secure a
sufficient sum to endow Tuskegee Institute, which would enable
him to devote more time and attention to other phases of our
race problem.
The writer believes, like the thousands of others scattered
throughout the country, that had Dr. Washington been relieved
of some of this great responsibility his young manhood, so filled
with hopes and ambitions to witness the fruition of his great
work, would not have been brought to so brief a termination.
We, with the thousands everywhere in this as well as for
eign lands, mourn the death of our great leader and champion,
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 187
Dr. Booker T. Washington. Abel P. Caldwell, in the Philadel
phia C our ant {colored}.
The frozen fingers of death have done their deadly work to
one of the mightiest sons of Ham. It is not only a family in
mourning, but an entire race bow their heads in the deepest
sorrow in the death of one of the greatest characters born of
woman. Among the noblest benefactors of mankind, whose
names are enrolled in the hall of fame, none can shine with
brighter lustre than that of Dr. Booker T. Washington.
NOT EXCELLED BY THE GREATEST.
Hannibal won his distinction upon the battlefield as a
patriot defending his country. Ceasar won his fame by beating
back his personal enemies and conquering armies which opposed
him. The success of Alexander the Great as a conqueror caused
him to weep because there were no more known foes to give bat
tle. Napoleon's ambition made him a mighty Emperor who
changed the map of Europe. Washington, the father of our
Country; Grant, the hero of Appomattox; Lord Nelson and
Dewey, mighty heroes of the high seas ; none of these in the gal
axy of the world's mighty heroic conquerors excels the deeds and
achievements of the slave-born son for whom now a race
mourns. An enemy more formidable than the snowcap Al
pine heights, an enemy more dreadful than the bleeding winds
of Moscow ; a stream wider than the Rubicon, a fleet more ter
rible than that which Dewey faced in Manila Bay ; an army more
forcefully entrenched than that which Grant met at Appomat
tox.
Booker T. Washington, the hero for whom the race mourns
to-day, met at the door of the log cabin in which he was born
'fifty-eight years ago and conquered the most powerful evils
which confront humanity: Poverty, ignorance, vice, supersti-
188 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
tion and race prejudice. With the courage and soul of which
only great men are made, this ebon hued lad overcame them all.
With bare feet and eyes turned toward the rising sun,
he fought his way and lifted a race as he climbed. Presidents,
kings, emperors, statesmen and lords paid homage to this un
usual man of valor. There may be those who did not always
agree with his policy and public utterances but even his most
bitter opponent must admit there were none like him. No one
knew his race better than he, no one studied the needs and solu
tion of its problems more unselfishly than he, no one's counsel
and advice were more reasonable and logical than his.
AN IRREPARABLE LOSS.
Our loss as a race is irreparable and our denomination
has lost its greatest layman. The Christian Review and its
many thousands of readers extend their deepest sympathy to
the stricken family and a mourning race. Christian Review
(colored).
The whole community is the poorer for the death of Book
er Washington and the loss to the race of which he was the son
and the most distinguished representative is immense and irre
parable. In many respects Booker Washington was an extra
ordinary man and he was so to a very notable degree in the com
bination which he presented of qualities which are seldom found
united in the one personality. By virtue of the aspirations
which he entertained and of the projects which he cherished,
he was a good deal of a visionary and enthusiast and yet he
never fell into the error of attempting more than there was any
reasonable hope of accomplishing.
He was a level-headed, far-sighted, sagacious man, who un
der all circumstances very well knew what could and could not be
done and who had patience enough and sufficient philosophy not
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 189
to become dissatisfied or discouraged because he could not make
more rapid progress toward his goal. He had no illusions about
the formidable character of the obstacles which it would be nec
essary to surmount or as to the seriousness of the difficulties
which would have to be overcome. He knew that only by de
grees could the ends at which he was striving be attained, and,
having counted the cost at the outset, he lost no part of his cheer
fulness or confidence in the payment of it.
HIS INFLUENCE REMAINS.
A great vacuum has been created by his departure, but
much of the influence which he exerted will remain. His
achievement had a value which it would be difficult to exagger
ate, and in the field to which it related it revealed possibilities
of development which none had imagined, and which many had
denied. It freshly exemplified the potentialities of faith.
Booker Washington had faith in his people and faith in the
sympathy and support of the American public, and of this faith
his life-work has furnished an impressive and convincing vin
dication.
He is gone, but his example, his precept, his great concep
tion remain, and of him as of another it may be said that " his
soul is marching on." Philadelphia Inquirer.
Probably no man of his generation has done more to solve
the " negro problem " than did Dr. Washington. Still radical
negroes lately have criticised their famous leader as a " com
promiser." They felt that the Tuskegee influence was not sup
porting the downright demand for " social equality." The
critics belonged to that group, white and colored, who were the
spiritual heirs of the extreme abolitionists.
This antagonism has been muffled on account of Dr. Wash
ington's great popularity. Washington may have been a com-
190 A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH.
promiser. Every man has to choose his battles. He has to
lose some points in order to gain others. The man who doesn't
compromise lives in a vacuum. Compromise is the price of
leadership.
One of the leading sociologists of the country effectively
described the split in this manner :
' Washington is farther removed from slavery than his
radical critics/' said this authority.
' The critics call attention to the wrongs the negroes suffer
and expect the decent white man to put a stop to the wrongdoing.
That is all right, but it is the slave attitude noblesse oblige.
TO BE INDEPENDENT OF FAVORS, i
" Washington, on the other hand, told his people to become
so strong industrially and economically that they would not
have to ask favors, even for justice. That is the free attitude.
Washington was farther along the road than are his critics."
Chicago Record-Herald.
Tribute of Dr. Talcott Williams, head of the Pulitzer
School of Journalism, of Columbia University :
" Booker Washington, like Benjamin Franklin, will grow
greater in the minds of men with every year which separates
them from his life. Like Franklin, he believed in the funda
mental virtues, industries, thrift, prudence and equal oppor
tunities. He was careless of rights as long as there were duties
to be done, aware that every man who does his full duty in life
will have every right he deserves and desires. No race in his
tory at the period of its development has had a greater leader,
and he will live among that small group of great Americans
who are necessary to make their land great. Without the
bounds of this land he has revolutionized the method and man
ner of developing backward people. His influence is left and
A BLACK MAN'S EPITAPH. 191
his teachings followed wherever the world over men are called
to raise those who are in the rear of civilization to its front
ranks."
Tribute of Col. Theodore Roosevelt:
" I am deeply shocked and grieved at the death of Dr.
Booker T. Washington. He was one of the distinguished citi
zens of the United States, a man who gave greater service to
his own race than ever had been given by any one else, and who,
in so doing, also gave great service to the whole country."
Tribute of Julius Rosenwald, Chicago:
" In the passing of Dr. Washington this country loses one
of its foremost educators. He earned the everlasting grati
tude not only of his own race, but the white race. I know no
nobler character than he possessed."
State Commissioner of Education Calvin N. Kendall, of
New Jersey, telegraphed to Mrs. Booker T. Washington:
" To you is expressed the sympathy of the educational
department of the State of New Jersey, including my own deep
sense of personal loss. For many years your husband has been
one of the most conspicuous leaders in education in the country,
nor was his influence confined to the education of his own race.
I believe that the memory of his eminently useful life will be
a consolation to you and yours and increasingly so as the years
go on."
So from every section of the country and every walk in
life may be gathered the written or spoken words of men to
evidence the everlasting respect which the world held of " The
Man of Tuskegee."
CHAPTER XIII.
IN MEMORIAM.
IN the days that followed the passing of the Moses of his race,
his praises were sung by the lips of thousands, irrespective
of race, creed or color. But few movements carried with
them as great tribute as that which was marked by a memorial
evangelistic service held in Philadelphia during a period begin
ning with November 28, or a fortnight after Dr. Washington's
death. The services were conducted by Inman A. McKenny,
of the National Bible Institute, and the significant point is that
the purpose was to arouse interest in the establishment of a
vocational training institution for negroes.
Thus again was the work of Dr. Washington as an educa
tor accorded the recognition which it deserved. The meetings
were held in the Varick Memorial Institutional Temple, Phila
delphia, and the meetings were marked by enthusiasm. A com
mittee of more than one hundred men and women, prominent
negroes and white persons, constituted a committee which work
ed to make the revival a success.
In Chicago, on the day of Dr. Washington's funeral, the
negro business men of the city and suburbs paid tribute to his
memory by closing their places of business between the hours of
10 and ii o'clock the time of the funeral.
The suggestion for this movement was made by R. S.
Abbott, editor of the Chicago Defender, who suggested also
that the negro business men and residents display pictures of
Dr. Washington in their windows. Incidental to this, memorial
services were held in several of the colored churches in Chicago,
as they were also in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Wash-
192
IN MEMORIAM. 199
ington and Charleston, W. Va. In his own community a special
service in charge of Seth Low, of New York, was held and a
movement was started to raise a fund for a $10,000 monu
ment to be erected to his memory.
In the Christian Review (colored) following his passing,
there appeared this tribute from J. C. Asbury:
" When Dr. Booker T. Washington died at Tuskegee,
there disappeared from among us the most inspiring figure in
all human history. No other man has ever risen from such
dense ignorance, absolute poverty and discouraging surround
ings and reached the heights in achievements, affectionate re
gard and public confidence as he.
FROM A HOVEL TO LEADERSHIP.
" From an almost naked slave child in a hovel with a dirt
floor to leadership in a system of education which is sweeping
the entire civilized world, to the adviser of Presidents, the con
fidant of leaders of the world's thought and action, the guest
of royalty, the mainspring of the hope and aspirations of ten
millions of Negroes in America, and the quickening of the faith
of the oppressed of every race and clime in their own ability
to do something and be somebody. The man who becomes
hopeless soon dwindles and dies. As with men, so it is with
races.
" When Dr. Washington began his public career, he
realized that embittered by practical disf ranchisement, the denial
of their civil rights, mob violence and lack of educational fa
cilities, the Negroes of America were becoming hopeless and
pessimistic. Like a good physician, he understood the condition
and applied the remedy. He pointed the way out, kindled anew
the flame of ambition and hope, and brought the most im
portant lesson that any man, race or nation can learn that the
13-W
194 IN MEMORIAM.
forces that make for our welfare, happiness and successful en
deavor come from within rather than without.
" That man who fully realizes that, while others may point
the way, he alone must travel it if he would reach the goal of
success, has more than half solved the problem. Like all great
men, Dr. Washington was simplicity itself and never thrust
himself on the attention of the great, but rather sought the
humble, dispised and neglected that he might help in giving
them their chance.
ALWAYS KEPT HIS FEET ON THE GROUND.
" To use his own expression, amid all his honors and dis
tinction, he always ' kept his feet on the ground/ No greater
tribute can be naid to him than to say, ' He lived and died for
others.' "
Again in the Christian Recorder (colored), the official
organ of the A. M. E. Church, under date of November 18, and
coincident with the announcement of Dr. Washington's death,
Rev. S. C. Churchstone Lord, of St. Paul's A. M. E. Church,
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, made an appeal for industrial training
in the islands, along the lines established by Dr. Washington.
The missionary discusses the Haitian situation at length, reflec
ting the same views that Dr. Washington advanced, and said in
part:
''' In my efforts at studying the people and enquiring into
the phases of their activity the thought has forced itself upon
me, that it certainly ought to be clear to the observant business
men of this and other West Indian Islands, especially to those
interested in the development of the islands' resources and in
dustries, that a vast amount of material in the field is being
minimized in its usefulness for the want of proper training for
an industrial activity.
IN MEMORIAM. 195
" To-day there are thousands of young men and women in
the West Indies, with energy and willingness, and with physical
equipment sufficient to make them efficient workmen in the
industrial field, who were pecking themselves away, being con
sumed with a vague notion of life, solely because they have not
had that training which will inspire them to engage in some
enterprise, outside of the professions and clerkships, which in
itself would contribute to the industrial development of their
several communities.
DETRIMENT TO CIVIL AND INDUSTRIAL PROSPERITY.
" It can be readly observed by any one visiting these islands
that those whose hands are not soiled by trade seem to have
a stronger claim to respectability and favor than others. This
attitude on the part of a large majority is a detriment to civic
and industrial prosperity in the West Indies. The aristocracy
cannot hope to find lucrative positions for all their sons in the
offices of the government, or in the stores, nor secure for them
fat fields for exploitation before the Bar. The professions can
not absorb all of them. An overweight of professional men
will wreck the balance-wheel of business and bankrupt the
government of any country.
:< A decided aversion to farming is noticeable among the
West Indian people. Even those gaining comfortable support
thereby would turn aside at any given opportunity to less re
munerative occupations. Thus the rising young men do not
trouble themselves with any ideas of industrial or agricultural
development; and what should, under ordinary circumstances,
be a source of wealth to the natives is left prey to the commission
merchants of foreign countries who impoverish the native pro
prietors by various means in their powers.
" This aversion is due, no doubt, to the punitive idea with
196 IN MEMORIAM.
which industrial education is so emphatically associated in the
government institution for the reforming of youths and its
specific relation to agricultural labor in the West Indies. A
large majority of the people believe that to be separated from
agricultural labor and from ' trade ' is about the same as being
far removed from Africa and slavery.
' It is admitted on almost every hand that agriculture has
a respectful place among the great nations of the earth. It is
the bone and sinew of empires. As a branch of labor, agricul
ture contributes to the life of the individual and the nation;
therefore, it should not be lightly regarded, by any, nor should
any government fail to equip a large proportion of its citizens
in this important branch of industry. That people who are
unable to produce industrial giants farmers or prodigious
influence is not worthy of a place in history.
A SCIENTIFIC OCCUPATION.
" Agriculture is not now regarded as a drudgery by the
more enlightened nations. It is a scientific occupation. The
original savage knew nothing of agriculture. It is not such a
long time ago that men began to gather seed for food and saved
a portion of it for next year's crop.
" The one great need is vocational schools, with the govern
ment making admission to the colleges and high schools and
also making courses in said vocational schools. The old
system of apprenticeship obtains in the West Indies up to the
present day. The people are slow to discover its drawbacks.
" By this system of apprenticeship, it is true, many young
men have become fairly good mechanics, but their knowledge
of the trades has been secured at the expense of their intellec
tual development, thereby incapacitating them to be classed
as master-minds and constructive forces in the development of
IN MEMORIAM. 197
their several communities. What a vast amount of raw mater
ial, capable of being turned into the finished product, has been
thereby lost to civilization !
" By reason of an impoverished state of affairs, owing
to a lack of education for proper co-operative industrial ef
fort, young men who have succeeded in receiving some degree of
intellectual culture have been lured away by news of the Ameri
can ' Eldorado/ They betake themselves to the United States
of America, thereby shirking the responsibilities for the develop
ment of their home and country, and increasing on the other
hand the magnitude of the labor problem in another country,
which country can never wholly assimilate them, while their
sympathies and interests because of racial antipathy remain
divided.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON'S IDEA.
" Now that the Americans have undertaken to look after
the industrial and economic development of Haiti, it might not
be out of harmony with the intentions of the authorities in
America to suggest the establishment of an industrial school
after the Booker T. Washington idea, having a Tuskegee grad
uate as principal, assisted by Haitian and colored American
instructors.
" It is known also that the State of Ohio's support of the
industrial department of Wilberforce University has advanced
beyond the experimental stage, and seeing that the denomination
to which this college belongs has a church organization in Haiti,
the authorities at Washington could very well secure the assis
tance of one or more of the Educational Foundations in secur
ing $50,000 for the establishment of an Industrial School in
Haiti under the direction of this Negro church, thus showing
their good faith to Haiti by helping in these necessary funda
mentals for the future of this people, as well as giving to the
198 IN MEMORIAM.
colored people in America the opportunity to manifest the spirit
of helpfulness, which I am sure they have for their unfortunate
brothers here.
" One-half of this fifty thousand dollar donation would go
towards the purchase of an experimental farm some distance
from the City of Port-au-Prince, and the erection of dormi
tories, the remainder being so invested as to meet the cost of
management. I repeat this would serve as an earnest of Amer
ica's best intentions for this weak Republic, whose troubles have
aroused the sympathies of all liberty-loving white men, through
out the world."
As indicating how effectively Dr. Washington builded the
organization which he left to carry on the work he started, the
following comment, which appeared in a Mobile newspaper a
fortnight after his death, is reproduced :
SPIRIT OF THE DEPARTED LEADER.
" While the principal and founder of Tuskegee Institute
peacefully sleeps beneath an unpretentious mound of brick and
stone, with elevated urns, growing evergreens, standing as sen
tinels at head and foot, built between the chapel and the little
Institute Cemetery, the spirit of the departed leader seems to
be everywhere and moving everything at Tuskegee Institute.
It does not appear that Booker T. Washington is dead. It is
hard to realize it.
" Fifteen hundred students from thirty-two States and
nineteen foreign countries, operating forty-two industries under
one hundred and eighty teachers, march as usual to the dining
hall, the chapel and to their respective studies and industries.
Warren Logan, treasurer and acting principal, is busy with his
double responsibilities ; Emmet J. Scott, secretary of the school ,
with tireless efforts, is dispatching replies to hundreds of unan-
IN MEMORIAM. 199
swered letters addressed to Principal Washington ; J. H. Wash
ington, superintendent of industries, is directing the multifar
ious affairs of the marvelous plant with the precision that char
acterized his duties and responsibility during the long period
of his brother's wonderful career. Indeed, the team work of
the school seems to be unimpaired.
" The only evidence seen of the death of the great principal
is in the crepe of mourning at the door of every heart, student
and teacher alike, and in the spontaneous efforts of every one to
do homage to the memory of Dr. Washington by promoting the
Tuskegee spirit and by faithfully discharging his respective
duties as if the great wizard was present in flesh. It is only
necessary to say : ' This is what Mr. Washington wanted to be
done/ and it is gladly and faithfully done. The spirit of Dr.
Washington permeates and inspires all the activities of the
school."
CHAPTER XIV.
" AND IT CAME TO PASS."
SINCE the achievements of Booker T. Washington cannot
be separated in their relation to the race to which he be
longed, the development of the negro and the South it
is fitting that some reference should be made to the success at
tained by other members of his race, which makes for proof
that he knew what his people could do. Not all of the advance
ment of the race is attributed to the work of Dr. Washington.
There have been other men, some of them negroes born
in slavery, who, like Washington, lifted themselves by sheer
force to commanding positions among their fellow men, win
ning recognition from the white race. Some of them accom
plished things without education or special training. As fur
nishing food for thought and a basis of comparison, as well
as throwing some light on the capabilities of the African, a few
brief biographies are given.
Bishop Richard Allen, who was the first head of the Afri
can Methodist Episcopal Church, and founder of the faith
among his people, began his ministerial career when at the age
of seventeen, and so impressed his master with his eloquence
that he allowed the youth to preach to him. He was ordained
a deacon in the Methodist Church in 1799 by Rt. Rev. Francis
Asbury, but withdrew and organized the colored church of
which he became the first Bishop. It is a matter of history that
he withdrew from the church which he originally entered be
cause of what he deemed " discrimination " at a time when it
was not deemed wise to question the white man's commands or
desires.
200
" AND IT CAME TO PASS." 201
Bishop Henry McNeal Turner was a living exemplification
of Dr. Washington's theory that, in a majority of cases, the
negroes who occupied commanding positions in national or com
munity life during the last generation had learned a trade in the
slave days. Turner was born in Newberry Court House, South
Carolina, in February, 1833. He was free born, but was bound
out to labor in the cotton fields and to the blacksmith's trade
until manhood.
Like many of the older generations of colored men, in his
craving for an education he secured a spelling book and with the
aid of white boys of his acquaintance, he learned the alphabet
and how to spell words of one and two syllables.. He got no
further until his mother employed a white woman to teach him.
This aroused the neighbors and his instruction was interrupted.
HE LEARNS TO READ.
He finally secured work in a lawyer's office at Abbeyville
Court House, and there he learned to read and pursued his
'studies. He went to New Orleans and later to Baltimore,
where he had charge of a small mission and continued his
studies under private teachers. He had joined the Methodist
Episcopal Church early in life and was licensed to preach before
the war. During the war he was appointed United States
Chaplain by President Lincoln. Following the war he taught,
preached and worked to build up schools and churches. In
1872, he received the degree of LL. D. from the University of
Pennsylvania, and in 1880 was ordained a Bishop of the A. M.
E. Church.
Andrew Bryan, the founder of the Negro Baptist Church
at Savannah, in 1 788, was a slave and was publicly whipped and
several times imprisoned for preaching his doctrine. His per
sistency, however, won for him the promise of the civil authori-
202 " AND IT CAME TO PASS."
ties to not molest him and his meetings were continued under
restrictions. His master finally gave him the use of a barn
at Brampton, three miles from Savannah, in which to hold ser
vices, and in 1792, the church began the erection of a building.
The city of Savannah donated the lot for the purpose. The lot
still remains in the proud possession of the church.
The first negro physician in the United States was James
Derham, who was born a slave in Philadelphia, in 1767. He
learned to read and was employed by his master in compounding
medicines. He became very skilful and, after having been sold
to a new master became his assistant. He purchased his freedom
and went to New Orleans where he built up a lucrative prac
tice. In his works Dr. Benjamin Rush, the celebrated physi
cian, refers to Derham and credits him with having much skill.
FIRST PHARMACY IN THE UNITED STATES.
James McCune Smith is said to have been the first negro
to establish a pharmacy in the United States. He was a phy
sician, who, unable to secure the education he demanded in the
United States, went to Scotland, and there secured the necessary
medical knowledge. Subsequently he returned to New York
and prior to and during the war was regarded as one of the
leading members of his race.
Wistar Mifflin Gibbs is credited with being the first negro
elected to the position of city judge or member of the minor
judiciary in the United States, having been honored with the
post in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1873. He was born in Phil
adelphia in 1823, where he had an opportunity to acquire a good
common school education.
Subsequently he learned carpentry and for a time was an
anti-slavery lecturer. He caught the " gold fever " and went
west with the " forty-niners/' and for a time was in business in
" AND IT CAME TO PASS." 203
San Francisco. Finally he went to Victoria, B. C., where he
found opportunity to study law and returned to the United
States and graduated from Oberlin College, whence he went
to Little Rock to practice his profession. He was at one time
United States Consul at Tamatave, Madagascar.
The story of an unusual career is told in the brief sum
mary of the life of Bishop Benjamin F. Lee. He was born at
Gouldtown, N. J., in 1841, and was left fatherless at the age of
ten years. During winter he attended country schools and
worked at odd jobs and in summer was employed in factories
and on the farms.
In 1864 he went to Wilber force University. It is said of
him that " he went there a hostler, unable to sleep in the stu
dent's quarters, and in thirteen years became president of the
University." He worked his way through the institution and
entered the ministry, and after serving in several pastorates
was called, in 1876, from a charge in Toledo, O., to the presi
dency of the college from which he had graduated.
RECEIVES EARLY RECOGNITION.
One of the few men of the negro race to early secure a
position within the gift of the people is B. K, Bruce, who was
elected to the United States Senate from Mississippi, in 1874.
He was born a slave, but after the war went to Oberlin College,
and then became a planter in Mississippi. He secured appoint
ment as Sergeant-at-Arms in the State Senate and following
his service in the United States Senate was appointed Register
of the United States Treasury by President Garfield, and Re
corder of Deeds in the District of Columbia by President Har
rison.
In the field of literature Paul Laurence Dunbar, the poet,
probably won more fame than any other negro in America.
204 " AND IT CAME TO PASS."
He was born in Dayton, O., in 1872, and was educated in the
public schools. His first volume of poetry was published in
1893. He was in the height of his career when he died in
1906.
Ira Frederick Aldridge, who was the valet of Edmund Kean,
the actor, showed such aptitude in characterizations that
Kean helped him and he made his appearance as an actor at
Covent Garden, London, in 1839. He played Othello to Kean's
lago, and made a successful debut. Thereafter he met with
unusual success and was decorated by the King of Prussia. He
died in Poland in 1867. He was probably the foremost actor
in the history of the race.
UNIQUE LITERARY CHARACTER.
The most unique character in the world of literature
among the colored people was undoubtedly Phyllis Wheatley,
who was the first woman of her race to win recognition in this
field in America. She was born in Africa and brought to
America in 1861 and sold to John Wheatley, of Boston. He
had her educated and at an early age she wrote poetry which
was published under her own name with the descriptive note
that she was servant to John Wheatley. She died in 1784. It
is worthy of note that at this time the increased interest in the
history of the negro in America and in educational matters
is creating a demand for the pioneer verses of this woman.
In the world of art Henry O. Tanner, son of Bishop Ben
jamin T. Tanner, of the A. M. E. Church, Pittsburgh, is
probably the foremost painter of his race. He resides in Paris
and a number of his works have been purchased by the French
Government for its collection in the Luxembourg Gallery.
Several exhibitions have been made in the United States. His
subjects are chiefly Biblical. He was born in 1859.
" AND IT CAME TO PASS." 205
In sculpture Meta V. Warrick, who received her first
training in the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art, Philadel
phia, occupies probably first place in her race. She studied in
Paris and in 1903 exhibited a work, " The Wretched," in the
Paris salon. One of her groups which attracted attention rep
resents the advancement of the negro since introduction into
slavery and was exhibited at the Jametown, Va., Centennial.
The artist in private life is the wife of Dr. S. C. Fuller, of Mas
sachusetts.
A PROMINENT NEGRO SINGER.
Probably the most prominent singer of his race is Harry T.
Burleigh, of New York City, baritone soloist of St. George's
Protestant Episcopal Church, one of the fashionable churches
of the metropolis. He is also a composer of considerable note.
One of the first, if not the first, negro graduate from a col
lege in the United States was John B. Russwurm, who completed
his education in Bowdoin College in 1826. He was also the
publisher of the first negro newspaper in the country. He went
to Liberia, where he became superintendent of the schools, and
later returned to America and was appointed Governor of the
District of Maryland. He died in 1851.
Among the other early graduates was Theodore Wright
from Princeton Theological Seminary. In recent years some
excellent records have been made by negroes in colleges all over
the country. Alain Locke, of Philadelphia, graduated from
Harvard with honors in 1907, and subsequently won the Rhodes
Scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania to Oxford
University. A number of negroes have been honored with
degrees by leading colleges and universities, among them being
W. E. B. Du Bois, editor of " The Crisis," who received the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard in 1895.
If it were the purpose to write a history of the progress
206 " AND IT CAME TO PASS."
of the negro race as a whole, thousands of names could be
presented from among the teachers, farmers, planters, bankers,
and others engaged in educational, industrial and commercial
pursuits, just as it is possible to note worthy actions or accom
plishments of thousands in every race and in every nation on the
face of the earth.
A STORY TO TEACH A LESSON.
The purpose of this story is to teach a lesson; the lesson
that for the man who accomplishes things who can produce
what the world wants, whether it be in the field of art, literature,
science, or industry color of the skin stands as no bar to recog
nition.
While it is of little historic interest, the following story
shows the possibilities that lie before the negro in the field of
industry as a skilled worker. Just at the time when the world
was discussing the work of Booker T. Washington, and what
he had accomplished by the industrial training of the negro,
James C. Jones, of Philadelphia, a humble colored laborer, 58
years of age, was having tested, by the officials of the Balti
more and Ohio Railroad and the United States Postal authori
ties, a patent designed to save the railroads of the country and
the Government millions of dollars in the taking on and throw
ing off of mail from high speed passenger trains.
The Government has always sustained heavy loss by the
destruction of mail bags and the contents of these bags, hurled
from express and mail trains going at fifty and sixty miles an
hour; and the railroads have increased operating expenses due
to the necessity of slowing down heavy trains to prevent the
destruction of the mail bags.
Jones made a device which provides for the automatic
delivery and receiving of the mail from a train going at the high-
" AND IT CAME TO PASS." 207
est possible speed, and in tests made it worked perfectly on
trains running at from fifteen to sixty miles an hour.
The device is in the form of an elongated receiving plat
form curved up at one end in a manner to gradually diminish
the shock of the mail bag when the container is hurled into it
from the flying mail car. A steel runner passes above it, curved
somewhat like the runner on a sleigh. The out-standing steel
arm of the ordinary mail ejector on the railway car is fitted with
a rubber roller which rolls upon the runner. The mail pouch is
suspended at the end of the arm.
LIFTS WITHOUT A SHOCK.
The instant the roller hits the steel runner it is lifted slight
ly without a shock as the rubber roller carries it smoothly over
the runner. The lifting motion operates a trigger which re
leases the mail bag and drops it to the receiving cage. At the
same instant a device, which is the one now used on the rail
ways, snatches the other waiting mail bag and takes it aboard
the car. Jones has put his new device and the old one together.
The tests of the invention proved that there was nothing
visionary about Jones' idea, and he was warmly congratulated
by the railway and postal authorities. The inventor has been
a laborer all his life and had no special mechanical or indus
trial training. A great deal of his time he was a cement worker.
His device is the crystalization of an idea that struck him when
he read a government pamphlet telling of the fortune that
awaited the man who could perfect an effective mail catcher
for the mail service.
Jones suffered all of the trials of the poor inventor, first
selling shares at ten cents each to raise money to carry on
his work. Finally he interested a white man who bought out
208 " AND IT CAME TO PASS."
the shares of the stockholders and advanced money to complete
the work.
When it was conceded that his device was all that he claim
ed for it and Jones was asked what he would do if he sold it to
the Government or the railroads, he made a reply that would
have pleased Dr. Washington :
" Well," said Jones, " I've always wanted to own a chick
en farm. And lately my wife has had a hankering for an auto
mobile. I'll get both. I'll move to the country with my wife
and my five children. I'll get them the automobile and I'll
look after the farm. It's the finest life in the world, farming is,
and I'll be content with it. The family can look after the auto
mobile. I'll find my pleasure in farming."
DEFINITIONS FOR THE NEGRO.
It is worth noting at this point that statutes placed on the
books of some of the States, and which have not been repealed,
provide definitions for what may be regarded as a negro. In
others words the States have legally defined those who must be
classified as negroes. In the State of Arkansas " persons of
color " include all who have a visible and distinct admixture of
African blood; in Virginia a person who has one-sixteenth
or more negro blood is a " negro."
The laws of Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Caro
lina, Tennessee, and Texas define a person of color as one who is
descended from a negro to the third generation inclusive, though
one ancestor in each generation may have been white. Accord
ing to the laws of Alabama a person of color is one who has had
any negro blood in his ancestry in five generations. In Michi
gan, Nebraska and Oregon no one is legally a person of color
who has less than one- fourth negro blood. In Florida, Georgia,
" AND IT CAME TO PASS." 209
Indiana, Missouri and South Carolina a person of color is de
fined as one who has as much as one-eighth negro blood.
The Constitution of Oklahoma reads : " Whenever in this
Constitution and laws of this State, the word or words ' colored '
or ' colored race ' or ' negro ' or ' negro race ' are used, the
same shall be construed to mean, or to apply to all persons of
African descent. The term ' white ' shall include all other
persons."
But with the exception of a few laws relating to segrega
tion there is no restriction on the activities of the individual and
few insurmountable barriers.
14-W
CHAPTER XV.
THE SPIRIT THAT GOES MARCHING ON.
IT is but necessary to scan the pages of time to find exemplifi
cation of that truism " the good that men do lives after
them/' but it is seldom that the world pauses in its march
of progress to make endure the memory of one man with such
a degree of uniformity as in the case of Booker T. Washington.
Weeks after his body bad been laid beside the chapel he
caused to be erected at Tuskegee Institute, there was held on
the eighth floor of the great John Wanamaker Store in Philadel
phia one of the most remarkable meetings recorded in that city
in many years.
More than fifteen hundred intelligent, well-groomed
negroes and a large number of white persons gathered there,
high above the streets of the city, in the very heart of one of
the greatest shopping and merchandising centres in the United
States, to pay tribute to the memory of Booker Taliaferro
Washington and hear him eulogized by Rev. Floyd W. Tom-
kins, rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church the church of
wealth and fashion in the Quaker City; by John Wanamaker,
by leading ministers of the negro churches without respect to
denomination, and by prominent colored men in various callings.
A new hall University Hall consecrated to the education
of students of the John Wanamaker Commercial Institute, and
never before opened to the public, was dedicated by this meeting,
held under the combined auspices of the Robert C. Ogden Asso
ciation, composed of colored employees of the Wanamaker
Store; the Negro Business Men's League; NCPTQ Mutual Aid
210
THE SPIRIT GOES MARCHING ON. 211
Society; Armstrong Association, and the Social Workers and
Keystone Aid Societies.
Down on the floors below teeming thousands swarmed
through the various departments of the immense building inter
ested in Holiday shopping, while here above the busy marts of
trade, men and women, putting aside their labors, joined in re
vering the memory of Dr. Washington.
After describing Dr. Washington as a rare man, hopeful,
warm-hearted, cheerful and bright, Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins, the
eminent divine, said among others things in a reminiscent way :
" Dr. Washington had a whole-hearted interest in the wel
fare of mankind; proud of his own race, but never forgetful of
his obligation to the whole human race the universal human-
ity.
A CHARACTER WORTH EMULATING.
"He possessed several peculiar characteristics which it
would be well for young men and women to emulate. First,
there was that willingness to begin in a small way he was
patient. I remember the story of how he worked to get an edu
cation ; how he walked miles to enter school, struggling forward
with the object of building up the race, ever faithful in the
performance of small duties that he might be prepared to do the
larger things.
" He possessed wonderful breadth of character, having an
unusual conception of the educational needs of humanity, and
puttine out a program for all. His was a program of high
ideals conceived to develop the head, the heart and the hand.
" Dr. Washington never despised work of the hand or
brain, and he was not afraid to serve with the heart ; and suc
cess of his threefold program of education caused others to
follow his plan and develop a now recognized form of education,
not only for the negro race but for ours.
212 THE SPIRIT GOES MARCHING ON.
" Another characteristic was his wonderful vision a vi
sion of high ideals of manhood and womanhood, and what they
might become.
" And may I not remind you of his deep humility. There
was nothing of the type of Dicken's Uriah Heep in his charac
ter ; he had magnificent self-respect ; he was not ashamed of his
race he was proud of it, because God had made him one of it,
and you felt that in his presence you were in the presence of a
man.
" One other thing : His wonderful sympathy and care for
the poor and downtrodden sympathy for the sick or those
who gave to assuage the suffering of others making their
troubles his own.
" Always he was warm-hearted. He radiated sunshine
and punctuated his remarks at times with delightful stories,
which made you forget the lowering clouds or the object in
hand.
A STORY AT CHURCH'S EXPENSE.
" I remember on one occasion he told a story at the expense
of the Episcopal Church. The minister was in the middle of
his sermon and had aroused his hearers by the fervor of his
utterances, when an aged colored woman in the gallery became
excited and burst into song, to the discomfiture of the congrega
tion. An usher approached.
" ' What's the matter, Auntie ?' he said.
" ' I'se so happy/ replied the excited worshipper. ' I think
I'se got religion/
" ' Um,' commented the youth who was delegated to pre
vent disturbances during the services, ' this ain't no place to
get religion; this is a Church/
" It was through such little incidents that one came to know
his delightful spirit/'
THE SPIRIT GOES MARCHING ON. 213
Concluding, Dr. Tomkins said, " We are thankful for his
life; but it is not gone; it must not be ended. Almighty God
will permit his work to continue and the world will be better for
his having lived."
A striking tribute was that given by Rev. Wesley F. Gra
ham, of Holy Trinity Colored Baptist Church, of Philadelphia,
who enjoyed Dr. Washington's personal friendship and was a
loyal supporter of his work from the first. Dr. Graham was the
chairman who introduced Dr. Washington as the speaker of the
occasion at one of the negro educator's early meetings before
the Y. M. C. A., in Richmond, Va., and who was subsequently
a member of the Negro Citizens Committee which received Dr.
Washington when he was honored at a meeting held in the
Academy of Music in Richmond after his return from Europe.
THE FRIENDLY BOARDWALK.
It was on the occasion of one of these meetings that Dr.
Washington said he had difficulty in keeping his thoughts away
from the scenes of the friendly boardwalk under which he
had slept in Richmond many years before, while making his
way to Hampton Institute.
" On that first occasion when I had the pleasure of intro
ducing Dr. Washington," said Rev. Graham, " I learned a les
son which I have never forgot. I had utilized all of my orator
ical powers in making the presentation speech, and I felt that
I had done myself credit. When, however, I had presented Dr.
Washington, my assurance was somewhat shaken, for he said,
in his simple, straightforward manner, 'I shall indulge in no sky
rocket oratory/ and I have since been a consistent disciple of
this wonderful man, endeavoring to deliver to my people, and
to the world, practical messages, avoiding sky-rocket and
Fourth-of-July oratory.
214 THE SPIRIT GOES MARCHING ON.
" Two million five hundred thousand Baptists looked upon
him as a ' John the Baptist/ said Rev. Graham, " and though he
was a layman he was consulted in the councils of the Church,
and he was the drawing card in the National Baptist Convention
where from five to fifteen thousand white and colored people
assembled. He was a genius of common sense; a schoolmaster
of truth, who taught the negro how to prove himself taught
him to do everything best/'
At the opening of the meeting, a picture of Dr. Washing
ton had been thrown upon a screen at the front of the stage,
and in making an informal address Mr. Wanamaker, who do
nated the use of the hall in answer to the appeal of the R. C.
Ogden Association, said among other things :
" John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave but his
soul goes marching on.
DR. WASHINGTON CANNOT DIE.
" The wonderful face which has just been reflected upon
the screen is in the flesh forever shut out from our view, but
Dr. Washington cannot die. The stamp of his life is on you
and on me and the world is better for it." Mr. Wanamaker
urged his hearers to remember the patience of Dr. Washington
under difficulties ; his unwillingness to quarrel, and how he swept
away the differences that resulted in the formation of cliques.
" I cannot forget the Memorial Service," added Mr. Wan
amaker, "to Abraham Lincoln, or another service of which
this reminds me the memorial service to William McKinley.
I put this alongside of those others.'for Booker T. Washington
was a Statesman, and I hope <hat many of you here will live to
see the day when down in Washington there will be reared a
fitting monument to his memory the memory of Booker T.
Washington."
THE SPIRIT GOES MARCHING ON. 215
An address which was highly appreciated and threw some
additional light on the life of the negro educator was delivered
by J. C. Asbury, a negro attorney, whose written eulogy has
previously been noted, and who was on one occasion a Com
mencement Day orator at Tuskegee. Mr. Asbury, who pre
sented resolutions on the death of Dr. Washington, supplement
ed their reading with some personal reminiscences, in which he
said:
MUST SEE HIM TO APPRECIATE HIM.
" We have all read Dr. Washington's messages and heard
him speak before our people, and some of the most cultured
audiences of the North, but no one who did not see him in the
Black Belt of the South can ever fully estimate or appreciate
the power and greatness of the man, nor understand him.
" On the occasion of my oratorical effort I went with him
on a tour of forty miles through the Black Belt. He was inves
tigating conditions and marking the progress of our people.
Never in all my experience have I witnessed such evidences of
adoration and veneration as were exhibited by those poor color
ed people of that District.
" At the cross-roads, in the corners of the fields, on the
banks beside the roads, we came upon little sheds, or shaded
nooks, or boxes in which had been carefully put aside for Dr.
Washington's inspection the largest potatoes; a basket of the
finest berries ; the largest ear or stalk of corn evidences of the
efforts to improve conditions in accordance with his teachings.
" Sometimes families would come for miles from out the
deep woods to meet him, and once beside the road there stood
a negro, his wife, children and granchildren, with hair brushed,
faces washed and clothes marked with evidence of painstaking
effort to make them presentable. The family was too poor to
216 THE SPIRIT GOES MARCHING ON.
offer anything of their growing in the fields, and so they stood
for personal inspection, and in simple faith inquired, ' Doctah,
don't you think we are improved ?'
" And out, miles away from any settlement, we came upon
a country school, built by the colored people of the plantation
under the inspiring direction of one of our sisters who had gone
out from Tuskegee and consecrated herself to the work of
helping to educate the members of our race.
" The authorities provided payment for this teacher for
three or four months of the year, and the balance was paid by
those who reaped the immediate benefit of the school. The
teacher had not seen her old mother for five years and she was
on the point of leaving her isolated school to visit her mother.
The money was raised to make up the deficiency in her salary,
but said these simple, eager people 'you must not fail to return
to us,' and those are the conditions under which they agreed to
exert themselves to provide the money.
GREATEST MAN OF HIS RACE.
" When you have seen Dr. Washington under such condi
tions as these; when you can witness the result of his efforts
and testify to the manner in which his name is hallowed by those
people of the Black Belt, it is then that you know Dr. Washing
ton, the greatest man his race has ever known."
" My memory goes back," said Rev. Henry Y. Arnett, of
Mt. Pisgah A. M. E. Church, at this meeting, "to
the occasion when he delivered that famous address in Atlanta,
which was epitomized in the expression ' Cast down your bucket
where you are.' It was there he first promulgated the principle
of home development and near-at-hand service and advocated
that service of good will of which we sing in Brighten the
Corner Where You Are/
THE SPIRIT GOES MARCHING ON. 217
" His admonition to those in the South was to do well that
which was at hand. I do not know that he was a Moses or a John
the Baptist, as it has been stated, but he was born in due time,
at a period when bad advisors and counsellors had stirred up
strife and there was talk of colonization and many impractical
and visionary things. If he were a Moses it was not to lead
his people out of the country, for he admonished his people to
stay where they were. It was their place to stay ' on the job.'
where they had been.
" I should describe him as a sort of trio-dynamic ; possess
ing intellectual power and strength, moral power and strength
and constructive power and strength, and sending out waves to
influence and to benefit all mankind.
" He killed himself working for his people and the highest
honor we can pay to him is to keep alive his memory by follow
ing in his footsteps observing and teaching his gospel."
The unusual meeting at which these comemnts were made
was presided over by Charles H. Brooks, vice president of the
Negro Business Men's League (of which Dr. Washington
was the National President), who also paid tribute to the great
educator. As an incidental the speakers eulogized Robert C.
Ogden, who was one of Dr. Washington's warmest supporters'
and a former business associate of Mr. Wanamaker. A fea
ture of the program was the singing of seven of Dr. Washing
ton's favorite hymns and melodies by members of the People's
Choral Society.
CHAPTER XVI.
WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES.
IN the preceding chapter reference is made in incidental
manner to the colonization movement, and to the fact that
Dr. Washington's attitude with reference to any movement
tending to cause restlessness among the negroes was epitom
ized in his " cast down your bucket where you are " speech.
The advent of Dr. Washington into the affairs of the
country can hardly be said to have any direct relationship to
the colonization movement, except that his ideas were advanced
with such force and clarity as to make it obvious to all who
heard him that the only logical thing to do was to accept the
situation as it presented itself and work out the solution in the
simple logical way.
The colonization movement had its inception years before
the Civil War and was responsible for the Republic of Liberia
in Africa as it exists to-day. As a relative subject it may be
briefly stated that the Colonization Society of America was
organized in 1817 with a view to providing a haven for the free
colored people of America in Africa. Several attempts were
made to settle such a colony and finally in 1821 some negro
colonists were transported to what is now Liberia.
The natives of the far-away territory in South Africa were
hostile to the new comers and it was sometime before they
could be subdued, but eventually the members of the colony
were alloted a portion of land approximating thirty acres each
and provided with means for cultivating it. There were many
difficulties, but in spite of them the imported negroes proved
their ability and the colony grew. Some chiefs of the black
tribes of Africa came into the folds and brought with them
218
WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES.
their almost barbaric followers until ultimately there came to
be a free and independent State. Churches and schools were
erected, newspapers were established, and through the influence
of the colony slavery was abolished in the neighboring States.
The Liberian constitution is framed after that of the
United States. There is a president, vice president and cabinet
of six officers with senate and house of representatives, and the
voters must be of negro blood and property owners.
At the request of the Black Republic, in 1909, a Commis
sion was sent to the country by the United States to report on
a boundary dispute between Liberia, Great Britian and France,
and to also make a survey of conditions with a view to submit
ting suggestions for the general improvement.
THE SETTLEMENT OF A DISPUTE.
The Commission was headed by Dr. Roland P. Falkner,
of the then Immigration Committee of the United States Senate.
Emmet J. Scott, secretary to Dr. Washington and for the Board
of Trustees of Tuskegee Institute, was also of the Commission,
which filed a report that formed the basis for a settlement of
the dispute. Subsequently other difficulties arose and finally
through the offices of the United States a loan was made to the
little Republic in the sum of $1,500,000 to settle its indebted
ness.
During the reconstruction period after the war, when, par
ticularly in the South, the negroes were terrorized by the
activities of such organizations as the historic Kuklux, previ
ously referred to, many persons advocated the transportation
of the freed to Liberia, or some other place. The negro was a
human anomaly in the matter of citizenship. Legally he was
a freeman, but in fact he was a man without a country.
It was while the negroes were chafing under the yoke of
220 WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES.
prejudice and from the bitter antagonism of some of the ill-
advised and hot-headed people of the South, that Dr. Wash
ington stopped their restless tendencies by developing a move
ment which had for its purpose in the larger sense the making
of a permanent home for the members of the race. Dr. Wash
ington advocated home building, knowing that those who are
land owners seldom abandon their property. They stay and
face the difficulties that confront them, and so live to win.
That was one of his great docrines that his people should
become affixed to the soil, and his auxiliary educational efforts,
as reflected in the experimental farm work, which he was
largely responsible for establishing through the Black Belt,
make this point obvious.
WASHINGTON'S INFLUENCE ON NEGRO FARMERS.
A great deal of what has been accomplished by the Fed
eral Department of Agriculture in the South may be traced to
the influence of Dr. Washington, particularly with relation to
the work among the negro farmers and in the cotton States.
The farm demonstration work of the Department has been
carried on by special negro agents, numbering in the neigh
borhood of half a hundred, who go about from farm to farm,
directing the efforts of more than 6,000 demonstrators and
others.
Many of these agents and innumerable demonstrators have
been students of Tuskegee or disciples of Dr. Washington in
the matter of industrial training, and one of the late reports of
the government work showed that many thousands of farmers
had received instruction and that they were profiting by their
lessons, with the result that new and better homes were being
built, barns erected and thousands of dollars invested in new
farm machinery.
WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES. 221
It is in connection with this demonstration work that
many of the boys 7 and girls' canning and corn clnbs, of which
much has been written, were organized.
Right here it is worth making the comment, on the sub
ject of education, that so far as material evidence of progress
among the negroes is concerned, the work directed by Dr.
Washington, and those who have advocated and followed his
method of training, has produced more tangible results than
all the academic schooling provided for the negroes put together,
AGE OF MATERIALISM.
It has been said that Dr. Washington was too material.
But this is an age of materialism. In a country where the class
distinction is closely drawn, where there are landed estates,
there may be a measure of economic assurance guaranteed to
the heirs of a family by the right of title. And the Govern
ment protects that right.
But in America the only assurance any man has of econ
omic independence is born of his ability to care for that which
has been handed down to him or to acquire property through
his own efforts. It behooves him then to so train himself that
he is prepared to meet the emergencies and accept the oppor
tunities which arise and through which he may obtain economic
assurance. And that was one of the purposes of Dr. Washing
ton's method of training ; to establish a plan of training which
would give a measure of economic assurance to the possessor
of that training and through it give him and win for him self-
respect.
It would be unfair to say that all the good that was ac
complished in education for the negro had its origin with
Booker T. Washington, for he has admitted that his inspira
tion was born of his contact with General Armstrong, at
222 WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES.
Hampton. And industrial training is taught at many other
institutions for the colored people besides Hampton and
Tuskegee.
Through the North and in a number of the Southern
States efforts were made to educate, in a desultory sort of way,
some of the slaves, even before the war, but the wonderful
thing about Dr. Washington's institution and the results he
achieved is that he accomplished the impossible in the very
centre of a territory where even after the black man was
liberated it was not believed it worth while to educate him,
and where in a large measure, before the war, it was almost,
if not quite, a crime or a misdemeanor to teach a slave to read
or write.
FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL IN VIRGINIA.
It is a matter of historic note that the first public school
seems to have been established in the State of Virginia about
1620, and was for Indians and negroes alike ; which is signi
ficant in view of the fact that Hampton Institute, in Virginia,
was the first industrial school designed for the education of
the negroes and Indians together.
One of the early attempts to provide educational facilities
for these races was the establishment of a private school in
New York City by Elias Neau. It was particularly for the
instruction of negro slaves. Later in Charleston, the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts established
a school, and in 1750 the Rev. Thomas Bacon, an ex-slave
holder, established in Talbot County, Maryland, a school for
poor white and negro children. About the same time, in
Philadelphia, an evening school for negroes was established
by the Quaker abolitionist, Anthony Benezet, while in 1763
a manual labor school for Indians and negroes was established
in Hyde County, North Carolina.
WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES. 223
In 1786 the New York African Free School, which subse.
quently became the first public school in New York City }
was established. The first separate school for colored child
ren in Massachusetts was established in Boston, in 1798.
In 1829 St. Frances Academy for Colored Girls was
started at Baltimore by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, a
colored woman's society in the Catholic Church.
ENDOWED BY FORMER SLAVE-HOLDER.
The first colored school for negro children was established
in Ohio in 1820, and in 1837 what is now the Institute for
Colored Youth at Cheyney, Pa., near Philadelphia, was started
by funds ($10,000) left by the will of Richard Humphries, a
former slaveholder. In 1849 Avery College was established
at Allegheny, Pa., at which time it is recorded that Phila-
delpia had a number of schools for negroes, with about 1,800
pupils enrolled. January i, 1854, Ashmun Institute was
founded by the Presbyterians at Hinsonville, Chester County,
Pa. Later, about 1866, the name was changed to Lincoln
University. August 30, 1856, Wilberforce University was
started by the Methodist Episcopal Church as a school for
negroes, and the loth of March, 1863, it was sold to the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, and since has been the
leading educational institution of this denomination.
Opposition to the teaching of slaves apparently began in
South Carolina, where in 1740 a law was passed prohibiting
them from being taught "writing in any manner whatsoever."
The laws of the slave states were gradually extended until
they included free persons of color, as in 1829 Georgia passed
a law forbidding any person of color from receiving instruction
from any source. In spite of this fact, however, many clandes
tine schools were conducted in such Southern cities as
Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans.
224 WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES.
In the North it is a matter of historic interest that
Prudence Crandall, a Quaker teacher, was mobbed at Canter
bury, Conn., for opening a school for negro children. The
state subsequently passed a law making it an offense to open
negro schools, and in 1835 a school in the State of New
Hampshire the Noyes Academy was pulled out of the
community by a mob of citizens employing a hundred yoke of
oxen to do the work.
During the Civil War and afterwards the American
Missionary originated the school which was destined to inspire
the great Dr. Washington. The school was started at Fortress
Monroe, and laid the foundation for Hampton Institute, as
was early noted in these pages. Other schools at this period
and a little later were established at Portsmouth, Norfolk and
Newport News, Virginia ; Newbern and Roanoke Island,
North Carolina, and Port Royal, South Carolina. In 1862,
Col. John Eaton, at the order of General Grant, assumed the
general supervision of Freedmen in Arkansas and schools
were immediately established. After the Emancipation Pro
clamation, issued January i, 1863, negro schools multiplied in
all parts of the South occupied by the Federal armies. General
Banks established the first public schools in Louisiana.
After the War the education of the negro was largely
directed by the Freedman's Bureau, which was established in
March, 1865. Its operations continued until 1870, at which
time it had under its control more than 2600 schools with a
total membership of nearly 150,000 colored children.
CHAPTER XVII.
A LESSON IN HISTORY.
THE life of Dr. Washington is so irrevocably linked to the
history of slavery, in which he was born, and of the
Nation, in which he became a leading figure, that as a
matter of important relationship for those seeking informa
tion, some brief historical facts are interpolated regarding slav
ery in this country, and the negro race from the beginning of
time.
Of the four great primary divisions of the human race, the
Aryan, Mongolian, Semitic, and Hamitic, there are three that
preserve their racial type and have little changed by inter-mix
tures. These are the Semitic, or Jews; the Hamitic, or Afri
cans, and the Mongolians, or Chinese.
The Aryan division, spreading out from the Caucasus
Mountains by way of India, and thence westward, became split
up into a hundred different races, with varying peculiarities
and racial differences, becoming as they are to-day English,
German, French, Irish, Scotch, Swedes, Finns, Russians, Hin
dus, and a hundred other varying races that have intermingled
until the Aryan designation as a division of the human race is
entirely lost.
These split Aryan races have become centralized in the
United States, where they are continuing their intermingling,
and getting farther away from the Aryan type.
On the contrary, the three other divisions, the Jews, the
Africans, and the Chinese, have maintained during all the ages
since their creation, their original characteristics, with oaly
15-W 225
226 A LESSON IN HISTORY.
slight intermixtures, so slight, indeed, that they are barely noti
ceable.
Historically, the races that make up the Aryan splits are
a mere breath on the surface of the ages of time, when com
pared with the other three divisions of the human race. Long
before the ancestors of many of them composed the barbarian
hordes that thundered at the gates of the Roman capital, and
finally effaced it from the face of the earth, the Jew, the African,
and the Chinaman were in possession of the evidences of high
civilization, wise government, and splendid monuments, and cul
tivated the arts of peace. The Aryan posterity, on the other
hand, were warlike, and became conquerors of the others, appro
priating their arts, and are still digging among the ancient
ruins of splendid empires, wondering what manner of people
could have perfected such noble works.
WARLIKE ARYAN BLOOD.
All the races had many forward and backward movements,
with the dominance always with the warlike Aryan blood.
But to-day, in the United States, the Hamitic, the African
if you please, has found and utilized the civilizing arts of the
Aryan, and is moving upward toward the pinnacle of the same
civilization which is essentially modern and original, and which
retains the ancient civilization of the other three great divisions
of the human family in its museums as objects of curosity and
admiration. At the same time he is maintaining his racial
unity.
There is no going back now. There can be nothing but
advance toward progress and higher civilization ; that is, in the
more adequate and efficient means of making the burden of life
more enjoyable and easier.
In one thing only is there doubt as to our progress, and that
A LESSON IN HISTORY. 227
is in human development and racial perfection. The scientists
and thinkers of the age are impressed with the fact that there
is degeneracy, or at least " recession," as it is termed, which
means a going back to some unknown evil type that will operate
disastrously upon civilization, morals and general well-being
of individuals.
By a remarkable unanimity of opinion, these marks of re
cession and degeneracy, sometimes called " delinquency/' are
limited to the posterity of the Aryan type. Superhuman efforts
are making to avert catastrophe by what is known as " selec
tion;" that is, by limiting intermarriages to those who shall have
been declared physically and mentally capable of assuming the
marriage state. But the question is raised whether this will add
anything to the strength of the race as a whole. In any event
there can be no reversion to ancestral type, because the ancestor
himself is mixed, and there is no pure strain to culture up to.
EASY TO MAKE SELECTION.
But with the African it is different, because the type re
mains as it was in the beginning, and it is therefore easy to
make selection. There is, as the matter now stands, little in
the way of the negro's progress, and in considering the future
that lies before the colored man in America, two things must be
borne in mind :
First: That the advance of the world and of nations to
ward harmonious action and unity of motives is purely of the
mind and soul and not of the material things of life. And
second, as to the world's progess the Colored Americans of
the United States occupy a prominent position in the vanguard
with the other divisions of the human race, all of whom are mov
ing in the same direction toward carrying out the Divine plan
of bringing all nations into one fold.
228 A LESSON IN HISTORY.
In July, 1912, there was held in London, England, a great
congress of the races of the world, including all the dark races
or their representatives. In fact, fifty different races were
represented by their leading men, consisting of over thirty pres
idents of parliaments, the members of the permanent court of
arbitration and of the delegates to the Second Hague Confer
ence, twelve British governors and eight British premiers, over
forty Colonial Bishops, a hundred and thirty professors of inter
national law, the leading students of mankind, and other scien
tific men of the world.
When Lord Weardale opened the first session of this con
gress, he looked into the faces of a thousand people representing
fifty different races of men, and said:
A VISTA OF PROMISE.
"To those who regard the furtherance of international
good-will and peace as the highest of all human interests, this
First Universal Races Congress opens a vista of almost bound
less promise.
" Nearer and nearer we see approaching the day when the
caste population of the East will assert their claim to meet on
terms of equality the nations of the West ; when the free insti
tutions and the organized forces of the one hemisphere will have
their counterbalance in the other ; when their mental outlook and
their social aims will be in principle identical; when in short
the color prejudice will have vanished and the so-called ' white
races ' and the so-called ' colored races,' shall no longer meet in
missionary exposition, but in very fact, regard one another as in
truth men and brothers."
Now and then in the discussion of the negro some student
stands forth, and in his efforts to open the minds of the members
of the black race to the possibilities which lie before them, points
A LESSON IN HISTORY. 229
to the fact that they are descendants of a race as worthy of honor
among the peoples of the world as any other. But few know
anything about the origin of the black man of the United States,
from which Dr. Washington came forth an uncrowned king.
It seems to be a fact that while the Anglo-Saxons, Celts,
Scandinavians, Germans and others wore skin coats, devoured
their food raw, lived in caverns, and were busily engaged in
cutting one another's throats over dry bones, the ancestors of the
colored people of the United States were enjoying the highest
arts of civilization, lived in palaces, and erected magnificent
specimens of wonderful architecture, and behaved generally
like civilized people.
RECENT AND AUTHENTIC DISCOVERIES.
Recent and authentic discoveries in Africa have brought
to light through monuments and other evidences that the Ham-
itic race played a very important part in the first stages of the
world's history. There are modern records, which, together
with the great number of monuments of great antiquity, demon
strate without the shadow of a doubt that the African civiliza
tion of the Hamitic race was older than the most ancient
history recorded of the Egyptians, going back centuries before
the birth of Moses.
It even appears that Egypt took its civilization from Eth
iopia, the black empire south of it, and that the black nations
of certain regions on the continent of Africa were not races in
their infancy, but the descendants of a powerful civilization
gradually broken by misfortunes and disastrous wars against
it.
The Egyptians always contended that their forefathers
learned their arts and largely received their laws from the
black empire farther south. Throughout the pages of Homer,
230 A LESSON IN HISTORY.
the Ethiopians are spoken of with great respect, as the friends
of the gods, the " blameless Ethiopians >: being a common
phrase.
The great Greek historian, Herodotus, who has been charg
ed with drawing upon his imagination in his accounts of Africa,
is demonstrated to have been to a great degree truthful; his
stories about the ancient Ethiopian Empire, south of Egypt
being verified in many respects by the finding of monuments and
ruins.
The writing of the people of the Black Empire is similar
to that of the Egyptians, and inscriptions on the monuments that
have been deciphered make it appear that Piankhi, the black
king, conquered Egypt 750 B. C., while the carvings in the exca
vated ruins show men and women unmistakably negro.
A REVERSE SUPPOSITION PREVAILS.
It had been supposed that civilization in its growth went up
the Nile river. Now it seems that it came down the Nile, from
Ethiopia to Egypt, instead of Egypt to Ethiopia. When Cam-
byses, king of Persia, conquered Egypt six hundred years before
the Christian era, he sought to arrange an expedition against
the Black Empire of the south, stories concerning the wealth of
which had been told. He sent gifts to the Black King. It was
said that there was a spot called " The Table of the Sun," where
the magistrates every night put provisions so that every one who
was hungry might come in the morning and help himself.
The history further relates that the Black King, Nat Nas-
tasen, received the envoys of Cambyses, and besides showing
them the " Table of the Sun/' took them to the prisons where the
prisoners wore fetters of gold. Cambyses was so impressed by
these stories of wealth that he made war on the Black Empire
to get gold, but failed to conquer.
A LESSON IN HISTORY. 231
In any event it is very clearly stated in the Bible Acts of
the Apostles, 8th chapter, 26th and 2/th verses: "And the
angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, arise, and go toward
the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto
Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went; and, behold,
a man of Ethiopa, an eunuch of great authority under Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure, and
had come to Jerusalem for to worship."
Later it appears that the treasurer of Queen Candace was
baptized and went his way rejoicing. It seems that there must
have been several Queens known as Candace, one of whose
prowess was so great that tales of her spread to Greece.
NEGRO WILL MAKE HIS WAY.
These historic facts are merely given in brief to show that
the black man, by very reason of his long line of descent, may be
expected under proper environment to make his way among the
white races. There have been many discoveries to verify the
claims that some of the black race had a high order of civiliza
tion, and it is a historical fact that the Nubians conquered Egypt
and the set the pace for good government among them.
For thousands of years the black men were exploited in
Africa and Asia, as slaves, and history reveals many stories of
their loyalty and bravery.
For the purposes of this brief digression, the records of
slavery in America are confined simply to the following notes,
which mark the history of the race which gave the world Booker
T. Washington.
The first slaves came to the Western hemisphere from
Spain, being the property of Spanish slave holders. This was
about the year 1500. A few years later, or about thirteen
years after Columbus discovered America, King Ferdinand
232 A LESSON IN HISTORY.
of Spain sent slaves to Hispaniola. Again he sent some in 1 5 10,
when direct traffic in slaves was established between Guinea and
Hispaniola, and when Balboa planted his flag on the Pacific coast
he is said to have had with him thirty negroes who helped him
build the first ship constructed on the coast of America.
Later Charles V, of Spain, who was also Emperor of
Germany and the Netherlands, granted the Flemish noblemen
the right to import several thousand negroes annually to Hispan
iola, Cuba, Jamaica and other ports.
SLAVES ACCOMPANIED CORTEZ.
In 1522 three hundred slaves are said to have accom
panied Cortez in his conquest of Mexico, and it was said that
negro slaves founded the town of Santiago del Principe, after
they rebelled against their Spanish masters. A number of
slaves were also with Vasques de Allyon, when an attempt was
made to establish a settlement on the coast of what is now said to
be a part of North and South Carolina, and it is certain that a
number of negro slaves were in the expedition of De Narvaez
in his Florida conquest. The expedition was not a success and
many members died. Those who survived were captured by
the Indians, but one of them, a slave named Estevancio, with a
couple of companions, wandered over Texas and Mexico for
a number of years, until in July, 1856, he reached the city of
Mexico. Two years later he led an expedition from Mexico,
and discovered what is now Arizona and New Mexico, and was
killed at Cibola, in New Mexico. He is said to have been the first
member of an alien race to visit the Pueblos.
In the expedition of De Soto were negro slaves, one of
whom is said to have settled in Alabama. So also, negroes are
supposed to have accompanied other expeditions of the Span
iards, but the importation of slaves from Africa to America is
A LESSON IN HISTORY. 233
credited to the English. It is a matter of historic record that
Pedro Menendez de Aviles had a number of negro slaves when
he founded St. Augustine, Florida, that they were brought from
Spain, and that they were trained in the mechanical pursuits
and in tilling the soil.
The first African slaves that could be construed to enter in
to what is now the negro citizenship of the United States were
landed at Jamestown, Va., in 1619, from a Dutch vessel. There
were twenty slaves, and it is historically reported that the
master of the vessel sought provisions in exchange for his cargo.
It has taken America, as a whole, three centuries to reach
the decision that such black men and women as were on that
first little slave boat were really human beings, and the one who
perhaps more than any other individual in the history of the
country brought about the realization in its fullest sense, was
a descendant of those early slaves, born near and educated with
in sight of the spot where that first slave vessel made its land
ing.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
IT is impossible to view Dr. Washington through the eyes of
those who came in contact with him in an intimate way
without recognizing the fact that this man who grew out of
slavery was a most extraordinary person in very many respects.
" The text of my sermon is Booker T. Washington/' said
one prominent Philadelphia divine in eulogizing the negro educa
tor at a meeting held to honor his memory, " for his whole life
was a sermon.'
It has been said that he did more than any other man to
overcome the prejudices against the members of his race, and
to establish a neighborly feeling a sort of fellowship between
the negroes and the white people in the South.
But analysis of Dr. Washington's work, and the estimates
of him made by those counted his intimates, make it apparent
that he won recognition as a practical economist; that however
much his theories may have been questioned, opposition could
not stand against the successful putting into practice of those
theories and that mere arguments and objections cannot stand
in the way of results. His life exemplified the truism " nothing
succeeds like success."
The changes which have marked the development of the
negro along the lines pointed by Dr. Washington can be noted
on almost every hand, and the spirit that has been shown in the
gatherings held to pay tribute to his memory have particu
larly made the changing attitude on the part of one race toward
the other noticeable.
" Twenty years ago," said John Wanamaker in Philadel
phia, while addressing one of the memorial meetings at which
234
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 235
negroes and caucasions were assembled together, " I heard
Booker T. Washington deliver a speech which interested me,
as all of his talks did. I asked him to take dinner with me, but
as conditions at that time were not particularly favorable to
complete freedom of action on the part of members of his race,
I asked the management of the place where we were to dine,
whether there would be any objections to my having Dr. Wash
ington at my table. He said there was not and Dr. Wash
ington sat there with members of my family.
" There was not the slightest demonstration on the part of
any of those in the dining room or about the place until after
we left, when I noted some ' boohin ' by those outside who
watched our departure.
PERFECTLY ROUNDED MAN.
" Little did Dr. Washington think nor did I that there
would come a time when there should be such a meeting as this,
but who can tell from a man's beginning what will be his ulti
mate end. I care not from what race or nationality he sprung,
there could be no more perfectly rounded man than Booker T.
Washington."
Again, after crossing the Atlantic ocean with Dr. Washing
ton, and traveling with him through Europe, Edward Marshall,
the newspaper correspondent, reflects the same idea, through
the word of Ex-Senator Sewall, of New Jersey, who was on the
steamship which carried Dr. Washington and Mr. Marshall
abroad.
Writing of Dr. Washington in the Columbia Magazine
Mr. Marshall said : " General Sewall was not an emotional nor
an enthusiastic man. His manner toward men of all sorts was
rather coldly critical than otherwise, but after he had heard
Washington say a few words in the nature of an address, he
236 SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
turned to me and whispered : ' We have heard a Moses speak a
real Moses a great leader. Emancipation only freed the bodies
of the colored people. This man is freeing the shackled minds
of the whole race/
While the question of who would succeed Dr. Washington
as the head of the institution he builded was being discussed
throughout the land, one of the great educator's students
and admirers drew forth this vivid picture of the difference be
tween the policy which Dr. Washington fixed for the guidance
of the members of his race and that policy by some of his critics
who favored the education of the negro along academic lines.
MUST BEGIN ON THE GROUND FLOOR.
"The difference between Dr. Washington and these
others," said the student, " is that Dr. Washington looked upon
life as sort of a sixteen-story building, to reach the top of which
the negro must begin at the ground floor and go up in an eleva
tor, or climb the stairs; the others seem to think that there is
some way by which the negro can walk right off the street into
the sixteenth floor of life's building."
One of the most enlightening contributions to contemporan
eous literature relating to the head of Tuskegee was that of
Timothy Thomas Fortune, who was appointed by Dr. Washing
ton to serve as chairman of the committee originally formed to
effect the Negro Business League, which held its first session
in Boston. Mr. Fortune, whose home is in New York, was sub
sequently chairman of the Executive Committee of the organiza
tion and traveled extensively in close relation to Dr. Washing
ton. In a signed article in the New York Sun, Mr. Fortune
paints a vivid pen picture :
" Dr. Booker T. Washington was a many sided man.
He was at home with all sorts and conditions of men, from the
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 237
President to the poorest black man in the shabbiest log cabin
in the South. In whatever society, in whatever situation he
found himself, he seemed to be perfectly at ease and without
restraint.
" And yet he was the most unsociable of men. He did
not care for or cultivate the social side of life. He lived mostly
with himself, even when surrounded by others, and preferred
always to listen to the conversation of others than to talk. This
trait enabled him to learn all there was to know of a person or
a community by asking questions in the most diplomatic and
persistent way.
DISGUISED HIS QUESTION.
" If he were asked a direct question he did not want
to answer he would seem to answer it without doing so, and then
ask the person the same question, so disguised as not to be
recognizable. When he got the other man to answering he would
keep at it until he had learned all that he desired to know* Then
he would change the subject, or separate himself in some way
from the person.
" Dr. Washington was on friendly terms with most of the
prominent white men of Alabama, most of whom thought well
of him and his work, and many of whom he was able to serve
in a helpful way. General Joseph Wheeler was one of these
men. On one occasion, two years after the Spanish-Ameri
can war, General Wheeler wrote an article for a New York
newspaper that Dr. Washington considered very unjust to the
negro people. The Monday following the publication of it Dr.
Washington entered a chair car in Jersey City for Washington.
He had hardly seated himself before General Wheeler entered
the car and was shown to his seat. He then went directly to
Dr. Washington's seat.
238 SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
" Dr. Washington and I stood up, facing the little soldier,
and he introduced me to him. I sat down. General Wheeler
seemed very much disquieted and Dr. Washington had entered
the car in a tired and nervous condition. Without asking
him what he thought of the article he had written, General
Wheeler began to explain the reason for his writing it, and Dr.
Washington grew more nervous and restive as the explanation
proceeded. Soon after we passed Trenton, Dr. Washington,
who had been standing and listening to the General for an hour,
excused himself and went toward the smoking end of the car.
General Wheeler took his own seat and was soon buried in
his favorite newspaper. He got off at Philadelphia, and seemed
to have forgotten that he had met Dr. Washington and had not
finished talking to him.
VERY INTERESTING CHARACTER.
" After leaving Elkton I went forward to find Dr. Wash
ington, but he was nowhere in sight. I asked the porter if he
knew where he was, and he said he had gone into one of the
drawing rooms after leaving General Wheeler and was fast
asleep. We were approaching Baltimore before Dr. Washing
ton emerged from the drawing room. ' General Wheeler is
a very interesting character/ he remarked, and said no more
until we reached Washington.
" Dr. Washington wrought a revolution in the habits and
condition of the negro farmers of Macon County through the
medium of the Tuskegee Farmers Conference, which was held
annually, but he wrought it for the most part by introducing
the farmers and their habits and conditions to themselves. In
the conferences points of order were not allowed, neither were
long talks. Five minutes was the time limit for each farmer.
When he had read his little paper or made his little talk, Dr.
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 239
Washington would take him in hand, and, by diplomatic ques
tioning, draw out of him all about himself and his affairs and
those of his neighbors worth knowing.
"When once the conference opened at 10 o'clock in the
morning there was no hold up or recess until late in the after
noon, and when the conference finally adjourned everybody
who had attended it would know all about his own affairs and
those of his neighbors, but none of them knew more than Dr.
Washington himself. This was one of the chief sources from
which he derived his intimate knowledge of the condition and
aspiration of the people of his race. He got it from them in
these conferences by questioning them face to face. He turned
the conference into an experience meeting at its inception, and it
remained one, largely, at the time of his death.
KNEW THEIR WANTS AND ASPIRATIONS.
" The Business League, which was started in Boston, in
1890, and of which Dr. Washington was the only president it
ever had, was another of the sources from which he derived
an intimate knowledge of his people and their wants and aspira
tions. During many years the experience meeting principle
was strictly observed in the proceedings of the league ; but some
three or four years ago the growth of the membership in num
bers and intelligence and wealth made it necessary to adopt the
plan of department work, each department with its own working
force, the chairman making an annual report to the general
body. In this way all of the trades, professions and business
enterprises are kept together and at work all of the year, and are
able to exert the greatest influence and obtain the best and most
accurate information necessary.
" It took many years of meeting and catechising to bring
the league membership up to this point of systematic and me-
240 SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
thodical work. After fifteen years of tireless work Dr. Wash
ington made the National Negro Business League one of the
strongest and most helpful organizations the Afro-American
people ever had. ,The splendid business growth since the organ
ization of the league is due almost entirely to Dr. Washington's
peculiar facility of making them see their deficiencies and needs
by talking about them in open meeting and inviting suggestions
from them as to how their conditions could be changed for
the better. He seldom volunteered to make a suggestion to
them except by insinuating the answer in his questions.
VERY COURAGEOUS MAN.
" Besides the knack of getting out of people all that he de
sired for his own information and their good, Dr. Washington
was a very courageous man with an abounding appreciation
of the humorous and ridiculous, although he seldom smiled and
was unable to laugh as other people do. His eyes would dance
and sparkle when he was amused, but his lips would only twitch
in a funny sort of way, and his laugh would bubble out somewhat
as a big sneeze. His eyes were long, like those of a Chinaman,
and appeared never to be in a state of repose, darting here and
there, and seeming to concentrate upon nothing; but he saw
everything, made mental note of it, put it to use in its place at
the proper time. And he never seemed to be in a hurry.
" Dr. Washington had no delusions about his leadership of
the Afro- American people. He knew that he had acquired it
without their consent by the character of the work he did as an
educator and mediator between them and the white hostile
public opinion of the Southern States. His right to speak
for his race was hotly contested for fourteen years after he
began work at Tuskegee Institute and until his memorable ad
dress at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposi-
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 241
tion in 1895, when the responsible newspapers of the country
proclaimed his leadership. Then the greater part of his people
sided with him, leaving an educated minority to oppose him,
with Dr. E. B. D. Du Bois, now editor of the Crisis and a mov
ing spirit in Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard's Association for
the Advancement of the Colored People, as leader. Most of
these people are college trained men, whom Dr. Washington
characterized as dreamers of things rather than doers of
things. Boston was the hotbed of this opposition and remained
so until the death of Dr. Washington.
GRAND AND IMPOSING.
" Some time after President Taft had begun to consult Dr.
Washington about all sorts of matters relating to his race and
Dr. Washington had recommended many Southern white men
for Federal appointments the discontent in Boston grew in ran
cor and volume and begun to worry Dr. Washington, who was
making Boston instead of New York his headquarters at that
time. He decided to find out for himself what the real trouble
was and asked me to issue invitations to the leading men of his
race in Boston to attend a banquet at Young's Hotel. When
seated at the banquet table the gathering was what is generally
styled ' grand and imposing.' There was no mirth in the coun
tenances of the diners, but there was a good appetite. That
is a healthy sign.
'* At the proper time when the coffee and cigars were serv
ed, I arose and told the diners that Dr. Washington had desired
to meet them at the banquet table and at the proper time to have
each one of them express freely his opinion of the race question,
and how best the race could be served in the delicate crisis
through which it was then passing. Each of the speakers
launched into a tirade against Dr. Washington and his policies
16-W
242 SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
and methods, many of them in lofty flights of speech they
learned at Harvard University. The atmosphere was dense
with discontent and denunciation.
" The climax was reached when William H. Lewis, the
famous Harvard football coach, told Dr. Washington to go back
South, and attend to his work of educating the negro and leave
' to us the matters political affecting the race/ Every eye
was upon Dr. Washington's face, but none of them could read
anything in it; it was as inscrutable as a wooden Indian's.
When every one of them had had his say I called upon Dr.
Washington to respond to the speakers who had unburdened
themselves. Dr. Washington rose slowly, and with a slip of
paper in his hand, and said :
SMALL BLAZE OF ELOQUEOCE.
Gentlemen, I want to tell you about what we are doing
at Tuskegee Institute and in the Black Belt of Alabama/
" For more than a half -hour he told them of the needs and
the work without once alluding to anything that had been said
in heat and anger by those to whom he spoke. He held them
close to him by his simple recital, with here and there a small
blaze of eloquence, and then thanking them for the candor with
which they had spoken, sat down. They were all disappointed,
as they expected that he would attempt to excuse himself of
the things they complained.
" At another time at one of the Tuskegee farmers' confe
rences, in 1894, 1 think, Governor William C. Gates of Alabama
was on the program to make an address, and the multitude was
expecting great things of him. He was not a polished speaker,
although he had served a great many years in Congress. He
was a rough soldier, who had lost an arm fighting for the Con-
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 243
federacy. He liked Dr. Washington, however, and his ideas
about the industrial education of the colored people.
" John C. Dancy, a college man, at that time Collector of
Customs at Wilmington, N. C., was to speak before Governor
Oates, and I was to follow the latter. Mr. Dancy is an un
usually bright and eloquent man. The two made a brilliant
comparison between the Puritan civilization of New England
and the Cavalier civilization of the South. Mr. Dancy paid a
glowing tribute to the New England men and women who had
built up the educational interest among the colored people after
the war, of which the Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes were
lasting monuments. Mr. Dancy had plenty of applause from
the great concourse of countrymen, but his address made Gover
nor Oates furious. When the Governor was called upon to
speak he showed plainly that he was agitated out of his self-
restraint. Without any introductory remarks whatever, he
said, as I remember it :
A FEW WORDS OF PLAIN TALK.
" ' I have this written address for you/ waving it at the
audience, 'but I will not deliver it. I want to give you niggers
a few words of plain talk and advice. No such address as you
have just listened to is going to do you niggers any good; it's
going to spoil you. You had better not listen to such speeches.
You might just as well understand that this is a white man's
country, as far as the South is concerned, and we are going to
make you niggers keep your place. Understand that. I have
nothing more to say to you/
' The audience was taken back as much by the bluntness
of the Governor's address as if they had been doused with cold
water. Indignation was everywhere visible on the countenances
of the people. But Dr. Washington appeared unruffled. On
244 SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
the contrary his heavy jaw was hard set and his eyes danced
in a merry measure. It was a time to keep one's temper and
wits, and he did so, as usual. Without betraying any feeling
in the matter, and when everybody expected him to announce
the next speaker, he said:
" ' Ladies and Gentlemen : I am sure you will agree with me
that we have had enough eloquence for one occasion. We shall
listen to the next speaker at another session, when we are not
so fagged out. We will now rise, sing the doxology and be dis
missed.'
" The audience did so, but it was the most funereal pro
ceeding I had ever witnessed upon such an occasion. Dr. Wash
ington's imperturable good nature alone saved the day.
MANY INVITATIONS TO SPEAK.
" After the meeting of the Business League in Chicago,
in August, 1904, I think, Dr. Washington, who was much run
down, planned to spend some weeks in camp on the Gauley
River, in West Virginia. There were only half a dozen in the
party. As soon as it was noised abroad that Dr. Washington
was to go into camp in the State invitations poured in upon him
to speak at various points in West Virginia. It was the State
from which he had gone in his youth to seek an education, and
the people wanted to see and hear him. But he accepted only
two of the invitations, one at Charleston at the beginning and
one at Montgomery at the end of his trip.
" At Charleston the meeting and reception were held in the
State Capitol and the addresses were by Governor McCorkle
and former Governor Atkinson, the one a Democrat, the other
a Republican of high repute. Before he was called upon to
speak, Dr. Washington suggested that I make the long address
for him, as he did not feel well, but I declined on the ground that
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 245
the people wanted to hear him, who was one of them, and not me,
about whom they knew nothing, and because I knew he was only
guying me, to relieve himself of the pent-up humor which he
had always to labor to keep in subordination.
" When we got to the camp on the Gauley, I was surprised
to find among the articles Dr. Washington had ordered for
his comfort was a big bathtub, which leaned conspicuously
against his tent, thirty feet from the river. I did not say any
thing to him about it, and he never used it, but rather , took his
dip every morning in the running waters of the river. There
were many visitors to the camp, mostly mountaineers, some of
whom came many miles over the mountains to see him. One
morning a long, lank mountaineer drove up to the camp, in a
regular mountain rig, with two big horses. His twelve-year-
old son was with him. The man said to the one nearest him :
MIGHTY GLAD TO SEE HIM.
" The mountaineer dismissed me with that, and I did
Washington they say is camping hereabouts. Be you him?'
Dr. Washington stepped forth and greeted the man cordially.
* You see it's this way ; I wouldn't go round th' corner ter see
you, but they are teaching th' children in our school all about
you and this 'ere boy of mine jest 'lowed that he had ter see you.
So here we aire, and I'm mighty glad to see you.'
" Dr. Washington insisted that they alight and have break
fast and allow the stock to be fed.
" After breakfast we all strolled up the mountain road in
the wake of Dr. Washington and the mountaineer and his son.
The two men kept up an animated conversation. At one point
the mountaineer asked :
" ' I suppose you be a Republican, Mr. Washington ?'
" * Why yes ; I've never been anything else/ said Dr. Wash-
246 SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
ington, rather doubtfully, as he did not of course know the poli
tics of the mountaineer nor the reason for his asking the ques
tion.
" ' Well, I'm glad to know it. I voted for Abe Lincoln and
for every Republican since. I suppose these others aire Repub
licans ?'
" ' All except my friend Fortune ; he is an independent, and
some call him a Democrat because he supported Cleveland
against Elaine/ said Dr. Washington, with a mischievous twitch
of his mouth. The lank mountaineer, who had a big Smith &
Weston revolver buckled on him in plain view, sized me up, with
a frown on his wrinkled face, and said:
" ' I'm very much surprised, very much. I cain't see how
a nigger can be a Democrat. For my part I think every one
of 'em ought to be shot wherever he be found.'
VERY MUCH SURPRISED.
"The mountaineer dismissed me with that, and I did
not answer. In parting from us several hours after the moun
taineer shook hands with Dr. Washington and said :
" * We're proud of you in this State Booker, we be, and I
want you to know it, and if you ever want real friends just
you come bacn here and you'll find 'em in West Virginny/
" On leaving the camp Dr. Washington was scheduled
to make an address at Montgomery. The opera house was
packed to suffocation and there were many outside who could
not get in as there were inside. Before the meeting began, Dr.
Washington had a ' sinking spell/ a species of dyspepsia that
bothered him much, and was really too sick to speak when his
time came. He asked me to speak for him, telling the mountain
eers he would follow me.
' Dr. Washington was not witty ; he was rather humorous
SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 247
in his makeup. He had need always of a yarn to illustrate what
he had to say in order to keep his audiences in good humor.
Instead of making an address I told the audience that I would
entertain them with some of the jokes that Dr. Washington
usually employed to illustrate the subject in hand. There were
about twelve of these. I kept the audience laughing from be
ginning to end."
Mr. Fortune repeats two stories familiar to many of Dr.
Washington's followers, one of which is as follows :
BACK WORK OFF HIS SHIRT.
" There was a colored farmer near Tuskegee who used to
come on foot every Saturday at the same hour to get a side of
Cincinnati white pork, in which there was never a streak of
lean. He was a long, lank person, and the meat had worn all
of the back off his shirt. He met a white countryman about
the same place coming into the town as he was going out, who
always eyed the colored man and his side of bacon curiously. At
last, one Saturday afternoon, he halted his mule close to the
colored man and said:
" ' Say, my man, I want tew ask yer er question/
" ' All right, boss, go right erhaid,' said the colored man.
* Yer kin ask me any questions yer wanter. Dat's a w'ite man's
business/
" ' The question is this : I want ter know why you don't
buy more shirt an' less bacon?'
" ' I'll tell yer boss, fur it am a easy question. Yer see
it am dis way: I done found out er long time ergo dat
you can promise de back, but de stomach doan take no credit/
" And then Dr. Washington would preach a sermon on the
necessity of negroes raising their own bacon and depending less
upon the grocer. Most colored people are hearty eaters and
248 SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
disposed to slight outward appearances to satisfy their
stomachs.
" The Afro- American people will never have another
Booker T. Washington to lead them, because there will not be
again any slave condition out of which to develop such a man/'
Had he lived another month Dr. Washington would have
noted the fiftieth anniversary of th^ freedom of the slaves, for
the exact date of the ending o/ ^e sf "^le which ended
slavery was December 18.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
WHILE this volume has not been prepared with a view
or hope of pointing the way to the solution of the
negro problem, the very life history of Dr. Washing
ton and the recounting of his struggles, experiences and achieve
ments, make it incumbent upon those who peruse these
pages to immediately give thought to the race question in its
relation to the future of the country, and the future of the race
itself.
It is true, too, that any information which will emphasize
the difficulties that confronted the great leader in his struggle
forward will make more apparent the effectiveness of his
methods, show more clearly the heights of greatness to which
he ascended, and give heart to those who because of such condi
tions have felt inclined to look upon the situation as hopeless.
He recognized the great handicap which prejudice placed
upon the efforts of the negro, and in formulating his educational
plans to make easier the work of those following him, he sought
to make his students see that they should first make themselves
more valuable to the world as economic units, knowing that
society at large forgives or overlooks constitutional weaknesses,
deformities, or unconventionalities in type, where the individual
rises to a point of accomplishing something meretorious, and
that what applies to one individual will apply in general to a
group of individuals.
What effect prejudice has in a general way has been studied
and weighed by many students. In a special survey of the
negro, made by the University of Pennsylvania, this phase of
249
250 THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
the race problem is discussed at length, particularly with ref
erence to the negro in cities, as typified by Philadelphia, and
some interesting reflections and conclusions are given, among
which are the following:
NOT RECOGNIZED AS A MAN.
'' In the negro's mind, color prejudice is that widespread
feeling of dislike for his blood which keeps him and his children
out of decent employment, from certain public conveniences and
amusements, from hiring houses in many sections, and, in gen
eral, from being recognized as a man. Negroes regard this
prejudice as the chief cause of their unfortunate condition.
On the other hand most white people are quite unconscious
of any such powerful and vindictive feeling; they regard color
prejudice as the easily explicable feeling that intimate social
intercourse with a lower race is not only undesirable but imprac
ticable if our present standards of culture are to be maintained;
and although they are aware that some people feel the aversion
more intensely than others, they cannot see how such a feeling
has much influence on the real situation, or alters the social
condition of the mass of negroes.
" As a matter of fact, color prejudice is something between
these two extreme views : it is not responsible for all, or perhaps
the greater part of the negro problems, or of the disabilities
under which the race labors ; on the other hand it is a far more
powerful social force than most people realize."
A summary of some of the difficulties which the negro is
compelled to face because of this attitude, as given in the survey,
includes these observations :
" No matter how well trained a negro may be, or how fitted
for work of any kind, he cannot in the ordinary course of com
petition hope to be much more than a menial servant.
THE QUESTION INVOLVED. 251
"
He cannot get clerical or supervisory work to do save
in exceptional cases.
" Whim and accident will cause him to lose a hard-earned
place more quickly than the same things would affect a white
man.
" Being few in number compared with the whites the crime
and carelessness of a few of his race is easily imputed to all,
and the reputation of the good, industrious and reliable suffer
thereby.
" Because negro workmen may not often work side by side
with white workmen, the individual black workman is rated not
by his own efficiency, but by the efficiency of a whole group of
black fellow workmen which may often be low.
FORCED TO WORK FOR LOW WAGES.
" Because of these difficulties which virtually increase com
petition in his case, he is forced to take lower wages for the same
work than white workmen.
" In all walks of life the negro is liable to meet some objec
tion to his presence or some discourteous treatment; and the
ties of friendship or memory seldom are strong enough to hold
across the color line.
" If an invitation is issued to the public for any occasion,
the negro can never know whether he would be welcomed or
not ; if he goes he is liable to have his feelings hurt and get into
unpleasant altercation; if he stays away he is blamed for indif
ference.
" If he meet a lifelong friend on the street he is in a di
lemma ; if he does not greet the friend he is put down as boorish
and impolite; if he does greet the friend he is liable to be
flatly snubbed.
252 THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
" If by chance he is introduced to a white woman or man,
he expects to be ignored on the next meeting, and usually is.
" White friends may call on him, but he is scarcely ex
pected to call on them, save for strictly business matters.
" Any one. of these things happening now and then would
not be remarkable or call for especial comment; but when one
group of people suffer all of these little differences of treatment
and discriminations continually, the result is either discourage
ment, or bitterness, or over-sensitiveness, or recklessness. And
a people feeling thus cannot do their best."
ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SECURE WORK.
The inquiry showed that while quite a number of cases
could be pointed to in which negroes held positions of responsi
bility, or as skilled workers, the exceptions proved in the main,
that, in the centre where the investigation was made, without
strong effort and special influence, it was next to impossible
for the negro to secure employment in most of the trades, ex
cept he work as an independent workman and take small tran
sient jobs.
" One has but to note that notwithstanding the acknow
ledged ability of many colored men, the negro is conspicuously
absent from all places of honor, trust or emolument, as well
as from those of respectable grade in commerce and industry.
" Even in the world of skilled labor the negro is largely
excluded. Many would explain the absence of negroes from
higher vocations by saying that while a few may now and then
be found competent, the great mass are not fitted for that sort
of work and are destined for some time to form a laboring
class. In the matter of the trades, however, there can be raised
no serious question of ability ; for years the negroes filled satis-
THE QUESTION INVOLVED. 253
factorily the trades and in many parts of the South they are still
prominent.
1 The chief agency that brings about this state of
affairs," says the report, " is public opinion; if they were not
intrenched, and strongly intrenched, back of an active preju
dice or at least passive acquiescence in this effort to deprive
negroes of a decent livelihood, both trades unions and arbitrary
bosses would be powerless to do the harm they now do ; where
however, a large section of the public more or less openly ap
plaud the stamina of a man who refuses to work with a ' Nig
ger/ the results are inevitable. The object of the trades union
is purely business-like ; it aims to restrict the labor market, just
as the manufacturer aims to raise the price of goods. Here
is a chance to keep out of the market a vast number of workmen,
and the unions seize the chance save in cases where they dare
not, as in the case of the cigar-makers and coal miners.
FORBIDS HOSTILE ACTION.
" If they could keep out the foreign workmen in the same
way they would; but here public opinion within and without
their ranks forbids hostile action. Of course, most unions
do not flatly declare their discriminations ; a few plainly put the
word ' white ' into their constitutions ; most of them do not and
will say that they consider each case on its merits. Then
they quietly blackball the negro applicant. Others delay and
temporize and put off action until the negro withdraws; still
other discriminate against the negro in initiation fees and dues,
making a negro pay $100, where the whites pay $25.
On this matter o'f the opposition of the trades unions to
the negro, merely, it was cited, as a matter of prejudice, Dr.
Washington took up the cudgel in behalf of his race as part of
254 THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
his battle to open the way for the students of Tuskegee, who
were going out into the world as skilled mechanics.
At the annual meeting of the Federation of Labor, in 1897,
it is part of the records that there was a long discussion over
the admission of the negro into the ranks of organized labor,
and that there was a denial that there was ground for a protest
from " Booker T. Washington " that trade unions were placing
obstacles in the way of material advancement of the negro.
What Dr. Washington was contending against is indicated
by the following note, which is one of many given in the report,
to show the difficulties that the negro has to confront in the
world's open market for workers :,
A TYPICAL CASE.
" The case of a young colored ' waiter man ' may be taken
as typical. He had studied three years at Hampton, where he
had learned in that time the stone-cutter's trade. He could
practice this in Georgia, he said, but in the South stone-cutters
get only $2.00 a day as compared with $3.50, sometimes $4.00
a day in the North. So he came North with the promise of a
job of stone-cutting for a new block of buildings to be erected
by a Philadelphian he had met in Georgia. He received $3.50
a day, but when the block was done he could get no other job
of stone-cutting, and so went into domestic service, where he
received $6.25 a week instead of the $21.00 a week he should
have been receiving as a stone-cutter.
' The effect on domestic service is to swell its already over
full ranks with discontented young men and women whom one
would naturally expect to find rendering half-hearted service
because they consider their domestic service work only a tempo
rary makeshift employment. One sometimes hears it said that
' our waiter has graduated from such and such a school, but we
THE QUESTION INVOLVED. 255
notice that he is not even a very good waiter/ Such comments
give rise to the speculation as to the success in ditch digging
which would be likely to attend upon the labors of college profes
sors, or indeed, how many of the young white men who have
graduated from college and from law schools would show them
selves excellent waiters, particularly if they took up the work
simply as a temporary expedient. A ' match ' between Yale and
Hampton, where mental activities must be confined to the walls
of the butler's pantry, and where there were to be no ' fumbles '
with soup plates, might bring out interesting and suggestive
points.
TRAVELS FAR FOR EMPLOYMENT.
In the records of several schools included in the report
it is shown that a very large percentage of those who graduated
were compelled to travel to distant points in order to secure
employment in their chosen trades or professions, or were com
pelled to abandon that calling after having taken the pains to
obtain it.
At this point it is strikingly significant that at the very
time the world was eulogizing Dr. Washington and crediting
him with having done much to break down the barrier of preju
dice under which the negro labored, a bitter protest was raised in
one of the good residential sections of Philadelphia because
Dr. William Creditt, the negro principal of the Downingtown
Industrial School, began negotiations for the purchase of a
home in the district.
Pages might be given from the long survey from which
pointed extracts or references have been taken, but that would
not throw any light on the situation as a whole. The following
conclusions, with some omissions, are therefore given to show
what these investigators viewed as necessary on the part of
both races to the solution of the race problem :
256 THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
" The negro groblems are not more hopelessly complex than
many others have been. Their elements despite their bewilder
ing complication can be kept clearly in view. They are, after
all, the same difficulties over which the world has grown gray
the question as to how far human intelligence can be trusted
and trained ; as to whether we must always have the poor with
us; as to whether it is possible for the mass of men to attain
righteousness on earth ; and then to add that question of ques
tions. After all who are the men? Is every feathered biped
to be counted a man and brother?
NO MYTHICAL HUMANITY.
" Are all races and types to be joint heirs of the new earth
that men have striven to raise in thirty centuries and more?
Shall we not swamp civilization in barbarism and drown genius
in indulgence if we seek a mythical Humanity which shall
shadow all men? The answer of the early centuries to this
puzzle was clear : those of any nation who can be called Men and
endowed with rights are few; they are the privileged classes
the well-born and the accidents of low-birth called up by the
King.
" The rest, the mass of the nation, the pobel, the mob,
are fit to follow, to obey, to dig and delve, but not to think or
rule or play the gentleman. We who were born to another phil
osophy hardly realize how deep-seated and plausible this view
of human capabilities and powers once was ; how utterly incom
prehensible this republic would have been to Charlemange or
Charles V, or Charles I. We rather hasten to forget that once
the courtiers of English kings looked upon the ancestors of
most Americans with greater contempt than these Americans
look upon negroes and perhaps, indeed, had more cause. We
forget that once French peasants were the ' Niggers ' of France,
THE QUESTION INVOLVED. 257
and that German princelings once discussed with doubt the
brains and humanity of the bauer.
" Much of this or at least some of it has passed arid the
world has glided by blood and iron into a wider humanity, a
wider respect for simple manhood unadorned by ancestors or
privilege. Not that we have discovered, as some hoped and
some feared, that all men were created free and equal, but
rather that the differences in men are not so vast as we had
assumed. We still yield the well-born the advantages of birth,
we still see that each nation has its dangerous flock of fools
and rascals ; but we also find most men have brains to be culti
vated and souls to be saved.
AFRICAN RACE NOT CONSIDERED.
" And still this widening of the idea of common Humanity
is of slow growth and to-day but dimly realized. We grant
full citizenship in the World-Commonwealth to the ' Anglo-
Saxon/ the Teuton and the Latin ; then with just a shade of re
luctance we extend it to the Celt and Slav. We half deny it to
the yellow races of Asia, admit the Brown Indians to ante-room
only on the strength of an undeniable past ; but with the negroes
of Africa we come to a full stop, and in its heart the civilized
world with one accord denies that these come within the pale
of humanity. This feeling, widespread and deep-seated, is
in America the vastest of the negro problems; we have, to be
sure, a threatening problem of ignorance but the ancestors of
most Americans were far more ignorant that the freedmen's
sons ; these ex-slaves are poor, but not as poor as the Irish pea
sants used to be ; crime may be rampant, but not more so if as
much as in Italy; but the difference is that the ancestors of the
English and the Irish and the Italians were felt worth educating,
helping and guiding, because they were men and brothers.
17-W
258 THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
" We have the problems arising from the uniting of so
many social questions about one centre. In such a situation
we need only to avoid underestimating the difficulties on the
one hand and overestimating them on the other. The
the world has conquered before and can conquer again. More
over the battle involves more than a mere altruistic interest
in an alien people. It is a battle for humanity and human cul
ture.
SHOULD NOT RETARD AN EARNEST PEOPLE'S RISE.
" The negro is here to stay; it is to the advantage of all,
both black and white, that every negro should make the . best of
himself; it is the duty of the negro to raise himself by every
effort to the standards of modern civilization and not to lower
those standards in any degree ; it is the duty of the white people
to guard their civilization against debauchment by themselves
or others ; but in order to do this it is not necessary to hinder
and retard the efforts of an earnest people to rise, simply be
cause they lack faith in the ability of that people. With these
duties in mind and with a spirit of self-help, mutual aid and co
operation, the two races should strive side by side to realize the
ideals of the republic and make this truly a land of opportunity
for all men."
On the duty of the negro, the report says : " That the negro
race has appalling work of social reform before it need hardly
be said. Simply because the ancestors of the present white in
habitants of America went out of their way to barbarously mis
treat and enslave the ancestors of the present black inhabitants,
gives those blacks no right to ask that the civilization and
morality of the land be seriously menaced for their benefit.
'' Men have a right to demand that the members of civilized
community be civilized; that the fabric of human culture so
THE QUESTION INVOLVED. 259
laboriously woven be not wantonly or ignorantly destroyed.
Consequently a nation may rightly demand, even of a people
it has consciously and intentionally wronged, not indeed com
plete civilization in fifty or one hundred years, but at least every
effort and sacrifice possible on their part toward making them
selves fit members of the community within reasonable time;
that they may early become a source of strength and help instead
of a national burden.
'' Modern society has many problems of its own, too much
proper anxiety as to its own ability to survive under its present
organization, for it to shoulder all the burdens of a less ad
vanced people, and it can rightly demand that as far as possible
and as rapidly as possible the negro bends his energy to solving
social problems contributing to his poor, paying his share of
taxes and supporting the schools and public administrations.
RIGHT TO DEMAND FREEDOM.
" For the accomplishment of this the negro has the right
to demand freedom for self -development, and no more aid from
without than is really helpful for furthering that development.
Such aid must of necessity be considerable; it must furnish
schools and reformatories, and relief and preventive agencies;
but the bulk of the work of raising the negro must be done by
the negro himself, and the greatest help for him will be not to
hinder and curtail and discourage his efforts. Against preju
dice, injustice and wrong the negro ought to protest energeti
cally and continuously, but he must never forget that he protests
because those things hinder his own efforts, and that those ef
forts are the key to his future.
" And those efforts must be mighty and comprehensive,
persistent, well-aimed and tireless; satisfied with no partial
success, lulled to sleep by no colorless victories ; and, above all,
260 THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
guided by no selfish ideals; at the same time they must be
tempered by common sense and rational expectation. Efforts
should first be directed toward a lessening of negro crime; no
doubt the amount of crime imputed to the race is exaggerated,
no doubt features of the negroes' environment over which he
has no control, excuse much that is committed; but beyond all
this the amount of crime that can without doubt rightly be
laid at the door of the negro is large and is a menace to a civ
ilized people.
HUMBLE WORK RATHER THAN DISGRACE OF IDLENESS.
" Efforts to stop this crime must commence in the negro
homes ; they must cease to be, as they often are, breeders of idle
ness and extravagance and complaint. Work, continuous and
intensive; work, although it be menial and poorly rewarded;
work, though done in travail of soul and swet of brow, must be
so impressed upon negro children as the road to salvation, that
a child would feel it a greater disgrace to be idle than to do the
humblest labor. The homely virtues of honesty, truth and
chastity must be instilled in the cradle, and although it is hard
to teach self-respect to a people whose million fellow-citizens
half-despise them, yet it must be taught as the surest road to
gain the respect of others.
" It is right and proper that negro boys and girls should
desire to rise as high in the world 33 their ability and just desert
entitle them. They shouTcT 6e ever encouraged and urged to do
so, although they should be taught also that idleness and crime
are beneath and not above the lowest work. It should be the
continual object of negroes to open better industrial chances
for their sons and daughters. Their success here must, of
course, rest largely with the white people, but not entirely.
Proper co-operation among colored people ought to open many
THE QUESTION INVOLVED. 261
chances of employment for their sons and daughters in trades,
shops, associations and industrial enterprises.
" Further, some rational means of amusement should be
furnished young folk. Prayer meetings and church socials
have their place, but they cannot compete in attractiveness
with the dance halls and dens of the city.
" There is a vast amount of preventive and rescue work
which the negroes themselves might do ; keeping little girls off
the streets at night ; showing the dangers of the lodging system ;
urging the buying of homes and removal from crowded and
tainted neighborhoods ; giving lectures and tracts on health and
habits; exposing the dangers of gambling and inculcating res
pect for women. Day nurseries and sewing-schools, mother's
meetings, all these things are little known or appreciated among
the masses of negroes, and their attention should be directed to
them.
TO EMULATE THRIFT RATHER THAN EXTRAVAGANCE.
" The spending of money is a matter to which negroes
need to give especial attention. Money is .wasted to-day in
dress, furniture, elaborate entertainments, costly church edi
fices, and ' insurance ' schemes, which ought to go toward buy
ing homes, educating children, giving simple healthful amuse
ment to the young, and accummulating something in the savings
bank against a ' rainy day/
" Although directlv after the war there was great and
remarkable enthusiasm for education, there is no doubt but that
this enthusiasm has fallen off, and there is to-day much neglect
of children among the negroes, and failure to send them regu
larly to school. This should be looked into by the negroes them
selves and every effort made to induce full regular attendance.
>{ Above all, the better classes of the negroes should recog-
262 THE QUESTION INVOLVED.
nize their duty toward the masses. They should not forget
that the spirit of the twentieth century is to be the turning
of the high toward the lowly, the bending of Humanity to all
that is human; the recognition that in the slums of modern
society lie the answers to most of our puzzling problems of or
ganization and life, and that only as we solve those problems
is our culture assured and our progress certain.
" This the negro is far from recognizing for himself; his
social evolution in cities like Philadelphia is approaching a
mediaeval stage when the centrifugal forces of repulsion between
social classes are becoming more powerful than those of attrac
tion. So hard has been the rise of the better class of negroes
that they fear to fall if now they stoop to lend a hand to their
fellows. This feeling is intensified by the blindness of those
outsiders who persist even now in confounding the good and
bad, the risen and fallen in one mass.
OVERLOOK THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.
" Nevertheless the negro must learn the lesson that other
nations learned so laboriously and imperfectly, that his better
classes have their chief excuse for being in the work they may do
toward lifting the rabble. This is especially true in a city like
Philadelphia which has so distinct and creditable a negro aristoc
racy, that they do something already to grapple with these
social problems of their race is true, but they do not yet do
nearly as much as they must, nor do they clearly recognize
their responsibility.
" Finally, the negroes must cultivate a spirit of calm,
patient persistence in their attitude toward their fellow citizens
rather than of loud and intemperate complaint. A man may be
wrong, and know he is wrong, and yet some finesse must be
used in telling him of it. The white people are conscious that
THE QUESTION INVOLVED. 263
their negro citizens are not treated fairly in all respects, but it
will not improve matters to call names or impute unworthy
motives to all men. Social reforms move slowly, and yet when
Right is reinforced by calm but persistent Progress we some
how all feel that in the end it must triumph."
The foregoing is presented merely for the purpose of show
ing what conclusions have been reached by others than Dr.
Washington, and have no relation in fact to what he has done,
or in any specific sense to the work he started, except that he
has done much to open the way for greater progress to mem
bers of his race and proved that they can under proper condi
tions and with proper training makes places for themselves.
CHAPTER XX.
AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION.
THE fact that prominent men gave their support to Dr.
Washington in his efforts to create an institution that
would provide a useful education for members of his
race in a great measure inspired him to his greatest efforts. He
felt that he was laboring under a handicap and he exerted every
possible energy that he might not lose their confidence and lose
faith in himself and his people. The eyes of the world were
on him and he dared not fail.
That he received a great deal of support from the trustees
of funds provided by philanthropic persons for the education
of the negro only proves the high esteem in which he was held.
Ultimately he became a trustee of one or more funds and render
ed much assistance to those who had the distribution of such
moneys under their control.
Among the funds or agencies which have provided for the
education of the negro separately, or in connection with the
white children, the following are enumerated, with an outline of
the provisions under which the funds were administered :
Gushing Fund This fund was created by Miss Emmeline
Gushing, of Boston, who left $33,000 in the interest of negro
education. The income from this was to be available for the
use of negro institutions for a period of sixteen years. The
provisions have been complied with and the fund distributed.
One of the peculiar bequests was that of John Parrish, of
Philadelphia, in 1808. Under the provisions of his will there
was established a fund, one-third of which was to be used for
the education of poor white children, one-third for the aid of
Indians and one-third for the aid of colored people. These
264
AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION. 265
thirds were to be used in the State of Pennsylvania. " The
Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery,
the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, and
for Improving the Condition of the African Race " is the trus
tee of the African Third, the annual income of which usually
amounts to about $200. This Society is also trustee for the
real estate and endowment fund for the Laing School
at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. In addition, the
Society has funds amounting to about $19,000, most of the
income from which is applied to the aiding of negro education
in the South.
TO PROVIDE INSTRUCTION FOR MALE COLORED PEOPLE.
Avery Fund This Fund was created in 1875. By agree
ment between the executors of the estate of Rev. Charles Avery,
who in 1849 established the Avery Trade School for Colored
Youth at Allegheny, and the trustees of the University of Pitts
burgh, the fund is to provide instruction for male colored
people in the United States and the British Provinces of Canada.
The number is not to exceed twelve at any one time and no in
dividual can hold a scholarship longer than four years. The
scholarships are granted to undergraduate students in the col
lege of arts, and schools of engineering, mining, economics and
education.
The yilas Bequest Under the will of Senator William F.
Vilas, of Wisconsin, who died in 1908, provision is made for
ten scholarships and ten fellowships for persons of negro de
scent at the University of Wisconsin. It is provided that ten
undergraduate scholarships and ten fellowships are to be estab
lished; that aid is to be provided for the encouragement of
musical talent, or to promote the appreciation of music.
After the establishing of ten research professorships, the
266 AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION.
trustees shall provide for fifty more undergraduate scholarships,
with a salary of from three to four hundred dollars each, and
then again fifty more scholarship fellowships with a salary
of from five to six hundred dollars each, to each of which
graduates of the University shall be appointed. For at least
one-fifth of these scholarships and professorships the regents
are to appoint preferably among qualified candidates those ol:
negro blood.
THE PEABODY EDUCATIONAL FUND.
The Peabody Educational Fund This fund from which
Dr. Washington received much support was established in 1867-
68, by George Peabody, of Danvers, Mass. He provided
a fund of $3,500,000 to be devoted to education in the South.
$1,380,000 of this amount was in Florida and Mississippi bonds
and has not been available. The remainder was placed in the
control of sixteen trustees. The primary aim of the fund was
to encourage the establishment of public school systems
for the free education of children. After this the income from
the fund was devoted to the training of teachers through normal
schools and teachers' institutes.
In 1875, a normal school for whites was established at
Nashville, Tennessee. This school assumed a leadership in the
development of the normal school idea throughout the South.
By means of scholarships students from the Southern States
were enabled to attend this central training school. By the deed
of trust the trustees were given the power to distribute the fund
at the exhibition of 30 years which ended in 1897. In January,
1905, the trustees decided to dissolve the trust. The residue of
the fund has been expended in the endowment of the Peabody
College at Nashville for the higher education of white teachers.
Under the arrangements for the first endowment of Peabody
AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION. 267
College the Peabody Fund donated the sum of $1,000,000. Sub
sequently thePeabody Fund contributed $500,000. The Trustees
have also contributed funds in aid of schools of education in
the State universities and in aid of rural education for the negro
race. The fund for this latter purpose was given in trust to
the John F. Slater Fund to be adminstered in the interest of
rural public schools for the negro race.
THE MINER FUND.
The Miner Fund This fund owes its existence to
Myrtilla Miner, of Brookfield, N. Y., who in 1851 established
a normal school for colored girls so that they might become
teachers. That the work might continue after her death, Con
gress in 1862 granted a charter under the name of " The In
stitution for the Education of Colored Youth/' to be located
in the District of Columbia and to educate and improve the
moral as well as intellectual condition of such colored youth of
the nation as might be placed under its care and influence.
Miss Miner died in 1864. The first lot of ground for the
school was in the square on which the British Legation is now
situated. In 1872 this ground was sold for $40,000 and a new
site was purchased at Seventh and Church Streets. Here the
Miner Normal School was conducted independently until 1879,
when an arrangement was made with the trustees of the public
schools of the District of Columbia whereby it was agreed that
the Miner Normal School should be the public normal school
for the colored people of the District. The building was leased
to the District of Columbia at an annual rental of $3,600.
The Slater Fund Early in 1882, John F. Slater, of Nor
wich, Connecticut, created a trust fund of $1,000,000 for the
purpose of " uplifting the emancipated population of the South
ern States and their posterity." For his generosity Mr. Slater
268 AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATI0N.
was voted a medal by Congress. Neither the principal nor in
come of the fund may be used for land or buildings, the money
being designed to prepare teachers and for the development
of industrial education. Public and private schools are helped.
Upward of fifty schools are helped annually. Dr. Washington
received some aid in the upbuilding of Tuskegee from the trus
tees of this fund.
THE HAND FUND.
The Hand Fund was established in 1888, by Daniel Hand,
of Guilford, Conn., who gave the American Missionary Asso
ciation $1,000,000 to aid in the education of the negro. Mr.
Hand also provided that his residuary estate amounting to
$500,000 should be devoted to the same purpose.
General Education Board John D. Rockefeller contribut
ed $1,000,000 as a fund to be devoted to the promotion of educa
tion in the United States, in 1902 and the following year. The
board is empowered to assist in any way to improve the primary
schools, industrial schools, technical schools, normal schools,
training schools for teachers, or schools of any grade or institu
tions of higher learning. In 1905 Mr. Rockefeller gave to the
board as a permanent endowment $10,000,000. In 1907 he gave
a further sum of $32,000,000, one- third of which was to be
added to the permanent endowment and two-thirds to be sup
plied to such specific objects as Mr. Rockefeller or his son might
designate. In 1909 he added $10,000,000 more, banging the
total of his gift up to $53,000,000. The money is utilized in the
promotion of practical farming in co-operation with the Depart
ment of Agriculture through the Co-operative Demonstration
Work; in giving assistance to public high schools in the South;
the promotion of higher education, and in promoting the work of
worthy negro schools and institutions. About $12,000,000 has
been distributed by the fund.
AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION. 269
The Anna T. Jeanes Fund This is one of the last of the
big educational funds. Miss Jeanes, a Quakeress, of Phila
delphia, created an endowment in 1907, the income from which
was to be specifically applied to the maintenance and aid of
elementary schools for negroes in the South. Among the
trustees of the fund was Dr. Washington, of Tuskegee Insti
tute.
FUND PROVIDES FOR SUPERVISOR.
The plan of operation is in* the nature of rural service.
A teacher was located in a center under the direction of the
county superintendent, from where she went to the small schools
to introduce and supervise industrial work. This developed a
form of work which is practically under the direction of a super
vising county teacher provided for entirely by the fund. From
$30,000 to $40,000 has been spent in a year in the work.
A fund established by the will of Miss Caroline Phelps
Stokes of New York, who died in 1909, and known as the
Phelps-Stokes Fund, provided among other things for the estab
lishment of fellowships at the University of Virginia and the
University of Georgia. The sum of $12,500 is given to each of
these institutions, with the proviso that the universities shall
appoint annually a fellow in Sociology for the study of the
negro. The fellows appointed must prepare a thesis embody
ing the result of their investigations, which are to be published
by the institutions.
The fund also provides for the use of $10,000 to be avail
able to Peabody College for Teachers, at Nashville, for visita
tion of negro schools and colleges, and also the undertaking of
comprehensive . investigation, in co-operation with the United
States Board of Education, of negro education, as well as to
provide assistance in the rural schools work primarily in the
province of the Jeans Fund.
270 AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION.
Among the other sums left for the education of the negro,
at various times, was $1,000,000 under the will of Col. John Mo
Kee, of Philadelphia, for the establishment of the Col. John Mc-
Kee College, and $36,000 to Tuskegee Institute by Mary E.
Shaw, a colored woman in New York.
MUCH GOOD FROM NEGRO STUDY.
Aside from the immediate educational work developed 01
aided by these agencies and others, including the American
Missionary Society, the directing of attention to the study of
the negro resulted in much good. Necessarily students in col
leges, compelled to make sociological studies of the negro, by
these very circumstances gave impetus to the work of investi
gating and improving conditions. A number of classes were or
ganized, reports and thesis prepared and read, and within a
period of half a dozen years the study of the negro in varying
phases was brought directly to the attention of thousands of
students in the white colleges, while the results of the inquiries
and the information received were made available to the negroes
among whom great interest was aroused. The churches both
white and black in many sections, either through organiza
tions within the body or directly, have worked along similar
lines, developing through one channel or another some form of
social service or contructive aid.
An effect of the work done by Dr. Washington, the institu
tion which he builded, and other schools and organizations, in
the way of improving the general health conditions among the
negroes, has a significance which has not been referred to.
The modern idea of education includes a knowledge of mat
ters of health. There can be no development of an unhealthy
animal on the farm, nor can there be much development for
the man or woman, irrespective of race, who is not mentally or
AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION. 271
physically able to respond to any training to which he or she may
be subjected.
Since the white man, perhaps for selfish motives, has
taken to overlooking the sanitary conditions under which the
negro exists, both in the city and in the country, and advanced
educators like Dr. Washington have taught the colored people
the value of " the bath " as a health agency, the mortality rate
among negroes in the United States has decreased materially.
NEGRO IN HEALTH AND SICKNESS.
Statistics compiled regarding the negro in health and sick
ness show a very large percentage of illness and a very high
death rate. It has been constantly held for years that the negro
has less resisting power than whites, but this impression was
largely created by the fact that the negro always seemed to
be suffering from some malady, and by the very high death rate.
But it has not yet been proved that this is so. As a matter of
fact the lessons which the negroes are learning about hygiene,
sanitation, cleanliness and health have resulted in a very marked
decrease in the mortality figures in the last half dozen years.
It has been frequently stated that the negro has a predis
position to tuberculosis, but any set of people in which such a
large percentage live for years in unhealthy and unsanitary
surroundings would provide material for statistics tending to
prove them tubercular. Were it not for the out-door life which
a very large portion of the negroes lead, not only in the country,
but even in the city slums, it is probable that the death rate
would be much higher.
The statistics show that in the neighborhood of seventeen
per cent, of all the deaths among negroes annually are due to
tuberculosis, and that the next largest numbers are caused by
pneumonia and heart disease. At the 1914 session of the an-
272 AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION.
nual Negro Conference in Tuskegee, figures were shown to
prove that nearly one half of the annual deaths among negroes
were preventable, and that a sufficiency of pure water, pure
air and pure food would immediately add ten years to the aver
age of negro lives. It was estimated that the economic value
of each negro whose death was preventable was $1,700, and
that the total loss incurred to the South through needless illness
and death of negroes was $300,000,000, out of which one-half
could be saved. The conclusion reached was that it would pay
the South to spend $100,000,000 to improve negro health, and
that the resultant savings from an economic standpoint would
justify the expenditure of that sum $150,000,000 on schools
and education.
GREATER THAN INCREASE OF NEGRO POPULATION.
The back to the farm movement among the negroes is a
reality, the latest statistics showing that the percentage of in
crease among negroes owning or operating farms was greater
than the increase of negro population. The educational statis
tics show as great increases in the activities and improvement,
also.
In 1860 the total number of Afro- Americans m the United
States was 4,441,830. In 1910, according to the last Govern
ment census, there were 9,827,763 negroes in the country. At
the close of the war there were scarcely more than five per cent,
of the entire colored population that could read or write, while
in 1910 the per cent, of illiterate negroes over ten years of age
was given at 30.4. The 1910 report showed that out of nearly
three and one-half million colored children of school age, not
more than 47 per cent, were in attendance at school.
With the mortality rate among the negroes decreasing,
the ownership of land increasing, the percentage of illiterates
AGENCIES FOR NEGRO EDUCATION. 273
decreasing, larger number of children in regular attendance
at school, it is self-evident that the negro is progressing. He
apparently got safely past that period where he for a time
seemed to lie absolutely dormant and he can afford to be some
what proud.
18-W
CHAPTER XXI.
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.
AT no time in his career did Booker T. Washington seek to
take credit for having originated the idea of industrial
training for the negro. The methods which he adopted
at least the basic principles were being applied at Hampton
when he first went there, and had been from its inception.
Nor was the idea original with General Samuel C. Arm
strong the founder of Hampton Institute, for before the war a
number of suggestions were made and plans proposed for the
establishment of industrial schools to train the children of free?
negroes in the North.
The adoption of the industrial training idea in the educa
tion of the negro was the logical outgrowth of a condition that
followed the freeing of the slaves and the throwing of the
negroes on their own resources.
In the early days of slavery those held in bondage were the
farm and hamlet mechanics. They were the blacksmiths, the
shoemakers, the carpenters, the masons, the farmers, the butch
ers strictly utilitarian in all matters of education.
In a series of papers prepared by the University of Penn
sylvania, dealing with the negro, the history of the occupation
of the negro in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania is given in out
line. The report is of interest because during the abolition
agitation and in the period following the war, Philadelphia was
the half-way-house between the North and South for the
negroes. There were many slaves owned in the State in the
ante-bellum days, and says the report :
" There early arose in the colony of Pennsylvania the cus
tom of hiring out slaves, especially mechanics and skilled work
men. This very soon aroused the ire of the free white work-
274
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA. 275
men, and in 1708 and 1722, we find them petitioning the Leg
islature against the practice, and receiving some encourage
ment therefrom.
" As long, however, as an influential class of slaveholders
had a direct financial interest in black mechanics they saw to
it that neither law nor prejudice hindered negroes from work
ing. Thus before and after the Revolution there were me
chanics as well as servants among the negroes.
THE NEGRO LARGELY SURVITORS.
" The proportion of servants, however, was naturally very
large. We have no figures until 1820, when of the 7582
negroes in the city, 2585 or 34 per cent, were servants; in 1840,
27 per cent, were servants. Some of these servants represent
ed families, so that the proportion of those dependent on domes
tic service was larger even than the percentage indicated. In
1896, in the Seventh Ward, the per cent, of servants, using the
same method of computation was 27.3 per cent.
Of those not servants, the negroes themselves declared in
1832 that ' notwithstanding the difficulty of getting places for
our sons as apprentices to learn mechanical trades, owing to
the prejudices with which we have to contend, there are between
four and five hundred people of color in the city and suburbs
who follow mechanical employments/
''' In 1838 the investigator of the Abolition Society found
997 of the 17,500 negroes in the county who had learned trades,
although only a part of these (perhaps 350) actually worked
at their trades at that time. The rest, outside the servants and
men with trades, were manual laborers. Many of these me
chanics were afterward driven from the city by the mobs.
" In 1848 another study of the negroes found the distribu
tion of the negroes as follows:
276 THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
" Of 3358 men, twenty-one years of age and over:
Laborers 1581
Waiters, cooks, etc 557
Mechanics 286
Coachmen, carters, etc , 276
Sailors, etc 240
Shopkeepers, traders, etc 166
Barbers 156
Various occupations 96
" Of 4249 women, twenty-one years and over there were :-
Washerwomen 1970
Seamstresses 486
Day workers 786
In trades 213
Housewives 290
Servants (living at home) 156
Cooks 173
Rag pickers 103
Various occupations 72
4249"
" Of both sexes 5 to 20 years of age there were :
School children 1940
Unaccounted for 1200
At home 484
Helpless . 33
Working at home 274
Servants . 354
Laborers 253
Sweeps 12
Porters 18
Apprentices . , . , 230
4798
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA. 277
i
ft
Besides these there were in white families 3716 servants.
Just how accurate the statistics of 1847 were it is now
difficult to say; probably there was some exaggeration from
the well-meant effort of the friends of the negro to show the
best side. Nevertheless it seems as though the diversity of
employments at this time was considerable, although of course
under such heads as ' shopkeepers and traders ' street stands
more often than stores were meant.
" In 1856 the inquiry appears to have been more exhaus
tive and careful, and the number of negroes with trades had
increased to 1637 including barbers and dressmakers. Even
here, however, some uncertainty enters, for ' less than two-
thirds of those who have trades follow them. A few of the
remainder pursue other avocations from choice, but the greater
number are compelled to abandon their trades on account of the
unrelenting prejudice against their color/ The following table
gives these returns:
OCCUPATION OF PHILADELPHIA NEGROES, 1856.
Mechanical Trades.
Dressmakers 588
Barbers 248
Shoemakers 112
Shirt and dressmakers 70
Brickmakers 53
Carpenters 49
Milliners and dressmakers 45
Tailors 49
Tanners and curriers ... 24
Blacksmiths 22
Cabinetmakers 20
Weavers 16
Pastry cooks 10
Plasterers 14
Sailmakers 12
113 other trades with one to nine in each 305
1637
278 THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
" In the light of such historical testimony it seems certain
that the industrial condition of the negro in the last century
has undergone great vicissitudes, although it is difficult to
trace them.
" In the half century 1840 to 1890 the proportion of negroes
who are domestic servants has not greatly changed ; the mass of
the remainder are still laborers ; their opportunities for employ
ment have been restricted by three causes : competition, indus
trial change, color prejudice.
NOT PREPARED FOR COMPETITION.
" The competition has come in later years from the phe-
nominal growth of cities and the consequent hardening of con
ditions of life; the negro has especially felt this change because
of all the elements of our urban population he is least prepared
by previous training for rough, keen competition; the indus
trial changes since and just before the emancipation of the
slaves have had a great influence on their development, to which
little notice has hitherto been given.
" In the industrial history of nations the change from agri
culture to manufacturing and trade has been a long, delicate
process : first came house industries spinning and weaving
and the like ; then the market with its simple processes of bar
ter and sale ; then the permanent stall or shop, and at last the
small retail store. In our day this small retail store is in pro
cess of evolution to something larger and more comprehensive.
" When we look at this development and see how suddenly
the American city negro has been snatched from agriculture
to the centres of trade and manufactures, it should not surprise
us to learn that he has not as yet succeeded in finding a perman
ent place in that vast system of industrial co-operation. Apart
from all questions of race, his problem in this respect is greater
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA. 279
than the problem of the white country boy or the European
peasant immigrant, because his previous industrial condition
was worse than theirs and less calculated to develop the power
of self-adjustment, self-reliance and co-operation.
" All these considerations are further complicated by the
fact that the industrial condition of the negro cannot be con
sidered apart from the great fact of race prejudice indefi
nite and shadowy as that phrase may be. It is certain that,
while industrial co-operation among the groups of a great city
population is very difficult under ordinary circumstances, here
it is rendered more difficult and in some respects almost im
possible by the fact that nineteen-twentieths of the population
have in many cases refused to co-operate with the other twen
tieth, even when the co-operation means life to the latter and
great advantage to the former.
ECONOMIC PROPOSITION UNTRUE.
" In other words, one of the great postulates of the science
of economics that men will seek their economic advantage is
in this case untrue, because in many cases men will not do this
if it involves association, even in a casual way, with negroes.
And this fact must be taken account of in all judgments as to
the negro's economic progress.
' Because such a large percentage of domestic servants are
negroes, the report quoted says, the negro is a central problem
in any study of domestic service, and the domestic service a
large part of the negro problem.
' So long as entrance into domestic service involves a loss
of all social standing and consideration, so long will domes
tic service be a social problem. The problem may vary in char
acter with different countries and times, but there will always
be some maladjustment in social relations when any consider-
280 THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
able part of a population is required to get its support in a man
ner which the other part despises, or affects to despise.
" In the United States the problem is complicated by the
fact that for years domestic service was performed by slaves,
and afterward, up till to-day, largely by black f reedmen thus
adding a despised race to a despised calling. Even when white
servants increased in number they were composed of white
foreigners, with but a small proportion of native Americans.
Thus by long experience the United States has come to associate
domestic service with some inferiority in race or training.
HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND EFFICIENCY.
" The effect of this attitude on the character of the service
rendered, and the relation of mistress and maid, has been only
too evident, and has in late years engaged the attention of some
students and many reformers. These have pointed out how
necessary and worthy a work the domestic performs, or could
perform, if properly trained; that the health, happiness and effi
ciency of thousands of homes, which are training the future
leaders of the republic, depend largely on their domestic service.
This is true, and yet the remedy for present ills is not clear un
til we recognize how far removed the present commercial method
of hiring a servant in market is from that which obtained at the
time when the daughters of the family, or of the neighbor's
family, helped in the housework.
" In other words, the industrial revolution of the century
has affected domestic service along with other sorts of labor,
by separating employer and employed into distinct classes.
With the negro the effect of this was not apparent so long as
slavery lasted ; the house servant remained an integral part of
the master's family, with rights and duties.
" When emancipation broke this relation there went forth
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA. 281
to hire a number of trained black servants, who were welcomed
South and North; they liked their work, they knew no other
kind, they understood it, and they made ideal servants. In
Philadelphia twenty or thirty years ago there were plenty of
this class of negro servants and a few are still left.
"A generation has, however, greatly altered the face of
affairs. There were in the city, in 1890, 42,795 servants, and
of these 10,235 were negroes. Who are these negroes. No
longer members of Virginia households trained for domestic
work, but principally young people who were using domestic
service as a stepping-stone to something else; who worked as
servants simply because they could get nothing else to do ; who
had received no training in service because they never expected
to make it their life-calling.
A RELIC OF SLAVERY.
1 They, in common with their white fellow-citizens, des
pised domestic service as a relic of slavery, and they longed
to get other work as their fathers had longed to be free. In
getting other work, however, they were not successful, partly
on account of lack of ability, partly on account of the strong
race prejudice against them. Consequently to-day the ranks
of negro servants, and that means largely the ranks of domestic
service in general in Philadelphia, have received all those whom
the harsh competition of a great city has pushed down, all whom
a relentless color proscription has turned back from other
chosen vocations; half-trained teachers and poorly equipped
students who have not succeeded; carpenters and masons who
may not work at their trades ; girls with common school training,
eager for the hard work, but respectable standing of shop-girls
and factory-hands, and proscribed by their color in fact all
these young people, who, by natural evolution in the case of the
282 THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
whites, would have stepped a grade higher than their fathers
and mothers in the social scale, have in the case of the post-
bellum generation of negroes been largely forced back into the
great mass of the listless and incompetent to earn bread and but
ter by menial service.
" And they resent it ; they are often discontented and bitter,
easily offended and without interest in their work. Their at
titude and complaint increase the discontent of their fellows
who have little ability, and probably could not rise in the world
if they might. And 'above all, both the disappointed and the
incompetents are alike ignorant of domestic service in nearly all
its branches, and in this respect are a great contrast to the older
set of negro servants.
NOT SO WITH THE NEGRO YOUTH.
" Under such circumstances the first far-sighted movement
would have been to open such avenues of work and employment
to young negroes that only those best fitted for domestic work
would enter service. Of course this is difficult to do even for
the whites, and yet it is still the boast of America that, within
certain limits, talent can choose the best calling for its exercise.
Not so with the negro youth. On the contrary, the field for
exercising their talent and ambition is, broadly speaking, con
fined to the dining-room, kitchen and street. If now competi
tion had drained off the talented and aspiring into other ave
nues, and eased the competition in this one vocation, then there
would have been room for a second movement, namely, for
training schools, which would fit the mass of negro and white
domestic servants for their complicated and important duties.
" Such a twin movement the diversification of negro in
dustry and the serious training of domestic servants would do
two things ; it would take the ban from the calling of domestic
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA. 283
service by ceasing to make ' negro ' and ' servant ' synony
mous terms. This would make it possible for both whites and
blacks to enter more freely into service without a fatal and dis
heartening loss of self-respect ; secondly, it would furnish train
ed servants a necessity to-day, as any housekeeper can testify.
" Such a movement did not, however, take place, but, on
the contrary, another movement. English trained servants,
the more docile Swedes and better paid white servants were
brought in to displace negro servants.
Moreover, the substitution has not met with active opposi
tion or economic resistence on the part of the negro, because
fulJy one-half of those in domestic service would only be too glad
to get other work of any kind.
CRIME, PAUPERISM AND IDLENESS.
" What then has been the result of these economic changes?
The result has undoubtedly been the increase of crime, pauper
ism and idleness among negroes ; because they are being to some
extent displaced as servants, no corresponding opening for
employment in other lines has been made. How long
can such a process continue? How long can a com
munity pursue such a contradictory economic policy first con
fining a large portion of its population to a pursuit which public
opinion persists in looking down upon then displacing them even
there by better trained arid better trained competitors. Man
ifestly such a course is bound to make that portion of the com
munity a burden on the public ; to debauch its women, pauperize
its men, and ruin its homes ; it makes the one central question,
not imperative social betterments, raising of the standard of
home life, taking advantage of the civilizing institutions of
the great city on the contrary, it makes it a sheer question
of bread and butter and the maintenance of a standard of
living above that of the Virginia plantation.
284 THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
" The most noticeable thing about the negro laborers as
a whole is their uneven quality. There are some first-class,
capable and willing workers, who have held their positions for
years and give perfect satisfaction. On the other hand, there
are numbers of inefficient and unintelligent laborers on whom
employers cannot rely and who are below average American
labor in ability.
" This unevenness arises from two causes : the different
training of the various groups of negroes composing the city
population; some are the descendants of generations of free
negroes; some of trained house-servants, long in close contact
with their master's families ; others are the sons of field hands,
untouched and untrained by contact with civilized institutions :
all this vast difference in preparation shows vast differences in
results.
SKILLED NEGROES NOT OFTEN CHOSEN.
' The second reason lies in the increased competition with
in the group, and the growing lack of incentive to good work,
owing to the difficulty of escaping from manual toil into higher
and better paid callings; the higher classes of white labor are
continually being incorporated into the skilled trades, or clerical
workers, or other higher grades of labor. Sometimes this hap
pens with negroes but not often.
" The first-class ditcher can seldom become foreman of a
gang; the hod-carrier can seldom become a mason; the porter
cannot have much hope of being a clerk, or the elevator-boy of
becoming a salesman. Consequently we find the ranks of the
laborers among negroes filled to an unusual extent with disap
pointed men, with men who have lost the incentive to excel,
and have become chronic grumblers and complainers, spreading
this spirit further than it would naturally go. At the same
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
285
time this shutting off the natural outlet for ability means an in
crease of competition for ordinary work/'
These are some of the conditions which Dr. Washington
saw with clear vision when he urged industrial training and
education for the negro and sought to show as large a propor
tion of his people to stick to the farms of the South instead of
migrating to the city.
And the result of his training in this direction? The fol
lowing table will show the increasing number of negroes who
are working in the field of industry, despite the prejudice that
they must overcome in the minds of employers and among the
workmen :
^TVorJcke
Number In
JL laQcS
1890
1900
1910
Carpentry
22 3 l8
211 IJ.
2Q O3Q
Plastering
4,OO6
*, , i i^.
7.7C7
^y^jy
6 78*
Brick and Tile making
TO S2I
O>/ J/
9.Q7O
v ')/ u o
18 7o^
Marble and Stone Cutting
j.^j3^j.
I.27Q
ly/v
1,2^7
1<J )/^j
I 788
Blacksmithi ng and Wheelwrighting . .
Boot and Shoe making 1
m i*/y
11,159
5.06$
*?" j /
10,480
A $7 A
*>/*"*
10,981
6 7o6
Harness and Saddle making
5> v -"-'j
20 1;
T-JJ/T-
277
421
Leather Currying, and Tanning ....
Trunk and Case making
*yj
1,099
66
*/ o
1,073
27
2,272
88
2C
*>j
22
3O
Hosiery and Knitting
*3
64
^6
jv
816
Woolen Milling-
^T-
1A.6
3^
1 60
1AT.
The story of the life of Dr. Washington would not be
complete without some description of the institution which
directly furnished the inspiration for his success. That institu
tion Hampton and the methods employed which gave him
the basic ideas for his own Tuskegee will always stand in the
world of educational history in the relation of father to son.
It was here the utilitarian idea first impressed itself on
the mind of Dr. Washington. The Institute, as previously
noted, was the outgrowth of a school started by the American
286 THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
Missionary Society at Fortress Monroe, and the dominating
figure in its history, General Samuel C. Armstrong, like Dr.
Washington, made his way through college by his own efforts.
The idea of industrial education for the negro did not have
its inception with General Armstrong, for in the early history
of the education of the negro before the war movements
were started for the purpose of establishing industrial schools
for the children of free colored people.
INSTITUTE'S INDUSTRIAL SHOWING.
When Dr. Washington first went from over the Virginia
hills and valleys to Hampton, it had much that was lacking at
the time of his death, but the educational principles were the
same. Of the more than 125 buildings and cottages on the
institute grounds about one-fifth are of brick, for the majority
of which the bricks were made on the grounds while the lumber
was manufactured from the rough logs in the school saw mill.
Altogether more than 75 of the buildings were actually erected
and nearly all of the materials made by the students. And in
the case of Tuskegee, all of the repairs on the buildings, includ
ing brickwork, plastering, plumbing, steamfitting, painting and
tinning were made by students of the trade school.
The home farm, where the students learn practical farm
ing, contains more than 120 acres, including an orchard, nurs
ery, fields for growing grain and forage, crops, truck and small
fruits, greenhouses and quarters for two score head of horses
and half a hundred fine cows.
The Shellbanks, six miles away from the school, is a farm
owned by the institution where a practical agriculture train
ing is secured by the students in the fullest sense of the word.
The farm contains 587 acres and is stocked with cattle, horses,
mules, hogs and poultry of the very best breeds. More than
THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA. 287
three-fourths of the land is under cultivation and students in the
agricultural department live there during part of their course.
The principal buildings include Virginia Hall, the oldest
of the large buildings now standing. It was built in 1873, and
was " sung up " by a band of Hampton singers. This feature
of the life of the school is worthy of comment. General Arm
strong sent forth under a commander, bands of student " Jubi
lee singers/' who rendered the old plantation melodies gave
in fact concerts, by which funds were raised. The hall was
formerly opened in 1878.
BUILDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE.
Cleveland Hall is a brick addition to Virginia Hall, and
contains a chapel seating more than a thousand persons. It
was named for the philanthropist, Charles Dexter Cleveland,
of Philadelphia. Academic Hall was first erected in 1868.
The building was burned in 1879, and a new brick structure
was erected. The Science Building adjoins the Hall and was
provided for by the gift of friends in the North in 1889. The
Stone Building contains the printing office, post office, publica
tion office, store and dormitories for young men, and was the
gift of Mrs. Valeria Stone, of Massachusetts.
The Wigwam is the Indian boys' building and was erected
in 1878, and Wionna Lodge was built in 1882 for the Indian
girls. Marshall Hall is the museum and the record offices.
It was originally the administration building. The Armstrong-
Memorial Trade School was opened in November, 1896. The
building has a floor space of 60,000 square feet divided into
rooms for the various trades and is built on the plan of a quad
ruple cross with interior court yard.
Domestic Science Building, was erected in 1898, and is
devoted to the use of the Domestic Science Department and the
288 THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING IDEA.
Agricultural Department. The Huntington Memorial Library
was dedicated in 1903, by President Hadley of Yale University.
The building was the gift of Mrs. C. P. Huntington. The
Whittier School is a free school for the colored children of
the vicinity and is used as a school of practice or training school
for teachers.
The students in the school are under military discipline
and practically the same rules prevail as at Tuskegee. In the
trade course blacksmithing, bricklaying, plastering, cabinet-
making, carpentry, wheelwrighting, plumbing, tailoring, tins-
ing, steamfitting, wheelwrighting, plumbing, tailoring, tins-
smithing and upholstery are taught. There are also Manual
Training Courses for those who wish to become trade teachers ;
business course, matron's course, teacher's course, agriculture,
academic course and special courses.
There are at Tuskegee Institute a number of teachers and
others who graduated from Tuskegee, and while the institutions
are very similar and Tuskegee in its development under Dr.
Washington, followed closely after the pattern he found at
Hampton, the two differ in appearance and in many other
respects. Tuskegee, does not, for instance, make any special
effort at providing education for Indians. Tuskegee, too, is
entirely negro, with absolutely no dominating white influence,
except as relates to the trustees, while Hampton was conceived
by and directed by white people.
The history of Hampton and that of Tuskegee will always
be linked, for General Armstrong was always the watchful pre
ceptor and friend of Dr. Washington, who helped to make his
work possible and Dr. Washington never ceased to appreciate
the wonderful work which Dr. Armstrong did and to acknow
ledge his debt of gratitude for what the pioneer industrial
teacher of the negroes did for him.
CHAPTER XXII.
EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME.
ONE phase of the vision of Dr. Washington which his
home-life exemplified, related to the importance of the
home-circle in community life and the advancement
of a people. That portion of his educational work which tend
ed toward giving the negroes some appreciation of the value
of a home, " no matter how humble/' was sometimes not appre
ciated from an academic educational standpoint, but Dr. Wash
ington was building a race, and not an individual, and he had to
begin at the bottom.
The system of slavery from which his people were freed
had wrested from them, and trodden under foot, any possible
ideals they might have had regarding home life. There were
no opportunities to create homes or at least few such and
it has been recognized that no peoples can begin to make real
progress until they have had aroused in them appreciation of
the influence of home.
In his famous Sunday evening talks to his students at Tus-
kegee Institute, Dr. Washington frequently chose for his topic
such subjects as " System in Home Life " and the institution
which he reared was built upon just such a foundation as that
on which it is necessary to build the home high ideals.
Students of the races , of the wild men of forests, can tell
by the sort of huts they live in how far from civilization are the
tribes they find.
In the social study of the negro made by the University
of Pennsylvania, referred to in the preceding chapter, the home
life of the . negro is discussed in its relation to civilization.
' Among the masses of the negro people in America/' says the
19-W 289
290 EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME.
report, " Monogamatic Home is comparatively a new institution
not more than two or three generations old.
" Leaving the slums and coming to the great mass of the
negro population we see undoubted effort has been made to es
tablish homes. Two great hindrances, however, cause much
mischief : the low wages of men and the high rents. The low
wages of men make it necessary for mothers to work and in
numbers of cases to work away from home several days in the
week. This leaves the children without guidance or restraint
for the better part of the day a thing disastrous to manners
and morals. To this must be added the result of high rents,
namely, the lodging system. Whoever wishes to live in the
centre of negro population, near the great churches and near
work, must pay high rent for a decent house.
ABSENCE OF REAL HOME LIFE.
" This rent the average negro family cannot afford, and
to get the house they sub-rent a part to lodgers. As a conse- 1
quence, 38 per cent, of the homes in the territory investigated
have unknown strangers admitted freely into their doors. The
result is, on the whole, pernicious, especially where there are
growing children. Moreover, the tiny 'Philadelphia houses
are ill suited to a lodging system. The lodgers are often wait
ers, who are home between meals, at the very hours when the
housewife is off at work, and growing daughters are thus left
unprotected.
" In some cases, though this is less often, servant girls and
other female lodgers are taken. In such ways the privacy and
intimacy of home life are destroyed, and elements of danger and
demoralization admitted. Many families see this and refuse
to take lodgers, and move where they can afford the rent without
help. This involves more deprivations to a socially ostracized
EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME. 291
race like the negro than to whites, since it often means hostile
neighbors or no social intercourse. If a number of negroes
settle together, the real estate agents dump undesirable elements
among them, which some enthusiastic association has driven
from the slums.
" Nevertheless, the spirit of home life is steadily growing.
Nearly all of the housewives deplore the lodging system and
the work that keeps them away from home; and there is a wide
spread desire to remedy these evils and the other evil
which is akin to them, the allowing of children and young
women to be out unattended at night.
PLEASANT FAMILY LIFE.
" In the better class families there is a pleasant family life
of distinctly Quaker characteristics. One can go into such
homes and find all the quiet comfort and simple good-hearted
fare that one would expect among well-bred people. In some
cases the homes are lavishly furnished, in others they are
homely and old-fashioned.
" The mass of the negro people must be taught sacredly
to guard the home, to make it the centre of social life and moral
guardianship. This it is largely among the best class of
negroes, but it might he made even more conspicuously so than
it is.
:< On the whole, the negro has few family festivals ; birth
days are not often noticed, Christmas is a time of church and
general entertainments, Thanksgiving is coming to be widely
celebrated, but here again in churches as much as in homes.
The home was destroyed by slavery, struggled up after eman
cipation and is again not exactly threatened, but neglected in the
life of city negroes. Herein lies food for thought.
" Notwithstanding the large influence of the physical en-
292 EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME.
vironment of home, there is a far mightier atmosphere
to mold and make the citizen, and that is the social atmosphere
which surrounds him: first his daily companionship, the
thoughts and whims of his class; then his recreations and
amusements ; finally the surrounding world of American civili
zation, which the negro meets especially in his economic
life.
" There is always a strong tendency on the part of the
community to consider negroes as composing one practically
homogeneous mass. This view has of course a certain justi
fication : the people of negro descent in this land have had a com
mon history, suffer to-day common disabilities, and contribute
to one general set of social problems. And yet if statistics
have emphasized any one face it is that wide variations
in antecedents, wealth, intelligence and general efficiency have
already been differentiated within this group.
DIFFERENCES OF CONDITION AND POWER.
" These differences are not, to be sure, so great or so patent
as those among the whites of to-day, and yet they undoubtedly
equal the difference among the masses of the people in certain
sections of the land fifty or one hundred years ago; and there
is no surer way of misunderstanding the negro or being mis
understood by him than by ignoring manifest differences of
condition and power.
"When the statistics on which the report quoted were
gathered concerning the families, each family was put in one
of four groups :
" Grade i : Families of undoubted respectability earning
sufficient income to live well; not engaged in menial service
of any kind; the wife engaged in no occupation save that of
house-wife, except in a few cases where she had special employ-
EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME. 293
ment at home. The children not compelled to be bread winners,
but found in school; the family living in a well-kept home.
:t Grade 2: The respectable working-class; in comfortable
circumstances, with a good home, and having steady remunera
tive work. The younger children in school.
" Grade 3. : The poor; persons not earning enough to keep
them at all times above want; honest, although not always en
ergetic or thrifty, and with no touch of gross immorality or
crime. Including the very poor, and the poor.
' Grade 4 : The lowest class of criminals, prostitutes and
loafers; the " submerged tenth."
FOUR CLASSES OF HUMANITY.
" Thus we have in these four grades the criminals, the
poor, the laborers, and the well-to-do. The last class repre
sents the ordinary middle-class folk of most modern countries,
and contains the germs of other social classes which the negro
has not yet clearly differentiated.
In discussing the relationship of these groups some inter
esting facts are brought to light regarding the social situation,
which makes it hard for those trying to rise above the level.
Of those classed in the second group the report says : " They
are hard working people, proverbially good natured; lacking a
little in foresight and forehandedness and in ' push/ They
are honest, faithful, of fair and improving morals, and begin
ning to accumulate property. The great drawback is the lack
of congenial occupation especially among young men and
women, and consequent wide-spread dissatisfaction and com j
plaint.
" As a class these persons are ambitious ; the majority can
read and write, many have a common school training, and all
are anxious to rise in the world. Their wages are low com-
294 EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME.
pared with corresponding classes of white workmen, their rents
are high, and the field of advancement opened to them is very
limited. The best expression of the life of this group is the negro
church, where their social life centers, and where they discuss
their situation and prospects.
" A note of disappointment and discouragement is often
heard at these discussions and their work suffers from a grow
ing lack of interest in it. Most of them are probably best fitted
for the work they are doing, but a large percentage deserve
better ways to display their talent, and better remuneration.
The whole class deserves credit for its bold advance in the midst
of discouragements, and for the distinct moral improvement in
their family life during the last quarter century.
SUITABLE CAREERS FOR CHILDREN.
" These persons form 56 per cent, or 1,252 of the families
in the district investigated, and include perhaps 25,000 of the
negroes of the city. They live in 5-10 room houses, and usually
have lodgers. The houses are always well furnished with neat
parlors and some musical instrument. Sunday dinners and
small parties, together with church activities, make up their
social intercourse. Their chief trouble is in finding suitable
careers for their growing children.
"Finally we come to the 277 families, 11.5 per cent, of
those of the district, and including perhaps 3,000 negroes in the
city, who form the aristocracy of the negro population in educa
tion, wealth and general social efficiency. In many respects
it is right and proper to judge a people by its best classes rather
than by its worst classes or middle ranks. The highest class
of any group represents its possibilities rather than its ex
ceptions, as is so often assumed in regard to the negro.
"The colored people are seldom judged by their best
EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME. 295
classes, and often the very existence of classes among them is
ignored. This is partly due in the North to the anomalous posi
tion of those who compose this class ; they are not the leaders
or the ideal makers of their own group in thought, work, or
morals. They terch the masses to a very small extent, mingle
with them but little, do not largely hire their labor.
" Instead then of social classes held together by strong
ties of mutual interest we have in the case of the negroes,
classes who have much to keep them apart, and only community
of blood and color prejudice to bind them together. If the
negroes were by themselves, either a strong aristocratic system
or a dictatorship would for the present prevail. With, however,
democracy thus prematurely thrust upon them, the first impulse
of the best, the wisest and richest is to segregate themselves
from the mass.
UPPER CLASS TO SERVE THE LOWEST.
" It is natural for the well-educated and well-to-do negroes
to feel themselves far above the criminals and even above the
servant girls and porters of the middle class of workers. So
far they are justified; but they make their mistake in failing to
recognize that however laudable an ambition to rise may be, the
first duty of an upper class is to serve the lowest classes.
' The aristocracies of all peoples have been slow in learn
ing this, and perhaps the negro is no slower than the rest, but
his peculiar situation demands that in his case this lesson be
earned sooner. Naturally the uncertain economic status, even of
this picked class, makes it difficult for them to spare much time
and energy in social reform ; compared with their fellows they
are rich, but compared with white Americans they are poor, and
they can hardly fulfill their duty as leaders of the negroes until
they are captains of industry over their people as well as richer
and wiser.
296 EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME.
" The mass of the laboring negroes get their amusement
in connection with the churches. There are suppers, fairs,
concerts, socials and the like. Dancing is forbidden by most of
the churches, and many of the stricter sort would not think of
going to balls or theatres. The younger set, however, dance,
although the parents seldom accompany them, and the hours
kept are late, making it often a dissipation. Secret societies
and social clubs add to these amusements by balls and suppers,
and there are numbers of parties at private houses. This class
also patronize frequent excursions given by churches and Sun
day-schools and secret societies ; they are usually well conduct
ed, but cost a great deal more than is necessary. The money
wasted in excursions above what would be necessary for a day's
outing and plenty of recreation, would foot up many thousand
dollars in a season.
A BALL EACH YEAR.
" In the upper class alone has the home begun to be the
centre of recreation and amusement. There are always to
be found parties and small receptions, and gatherings at the
invitations of musical or social clubs. One large ball each year
is usually given, which is strictly private. Guests from out of
town are given much social attention.
" Among nearly all classes of negroes there is a large un
satisfied demand for amusement. Large numbers of servant
girls and young men have flocked to the city, have no homes and
want places to frequent."
The vision which Dr. Washington had of the conditions in
the negro settlements in the cities, when he advised his students
to stick to the soil, is clearly indicated by the following table,
which shows that in many cases families in the " black belt " of
the city frequently live under congested and unhealthy con-
EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME. 297
ditions as did those families who occupied a one-room cabin in
Alabama, or Georgia.
As a matter of fact, the family in the Southern cabin had
the advantage of plenty of warm sunshine and fresh air, where
as many of those in the thickly populated communities are
deprived of the benefit of nature's own remedial agent pure
fresh air. Here is a table of the number of families who lived
in from one to six rooms, as ascertained in the University's
survey :
829 families live in i room, including families lodging, or 35.2 per cent.
104 " " " 2 rooms or 4.4 "
371 " " "3 " or 15.7 "
170 " 4
127 " " 4< 5
754 " " " 6 " or more or 32.0
\ , or 12.7
127 " " "5 " /
" The number of families occupying one room is here ex
aggerated by the lodging system ; on the other hand the number
occupying six rooms and more is also somewhat exaggerated
by the fact that not all sub-rented rooms have been subtracted,
although this has been done as far as possible."
In a large percentage of these cases, it was noted that there
was almost as great an absence of bathing facilities as described
by Dr. Washington when he related his experiences in visiting
the little cabins in the Alabama woods.
' So long as any considerable part of the population of an
organized community is, in its mode of life and physical effi
ciency, distinctly and noticeably below the average, the commu
nity must suffer. The suffering part furnishes less than its quota
of workers, more than its quota of the helpless and dependent
and consequently becomes to an extent a burden on the commu
nity. This is the situation of the negroes : because of their phy
sical health, they receive a larger portion of charity, spend a-
larger proportion of their earnings for physicians and medi-
298 EVERYTHING LEADS TO THE HOME.
cine, and throw on the community a larger number of helpless
widows and orphans than either they or the city can afford.
Why is this ? Primarily it is because the negroes are as a mass
ignorant of the laws of health."
It was Dr. Washington's broad vision and his unusual
knowledge of conditions with a deep understanding of the needs
of citizenship, that enabled him to develop his wonderfully
effective educational plan at Tuskegee, and that there was need
for someone to arouse the negro to the seriousness of the situa
tion existing, with relation to him, is shown by the general
conclusion given in a section of the " social report," previously
quoted, and which says :
" It cannot be denied that the main results of the develop
ment of the negro since the war have on the whole disappointed
his well-wishers. They do not pretend that he has not made
great advance in certain lines, or even that in general he is not
better off to-day than formerly. They do not even profess to
know just what his condition to-day is, and yet there is a wide
spread feeling that more might reasonably have been expected
in the line of social and moral development than apparently has
been accomplished.
" Not only do they feel that there is a lack of positive re
sults, but the relative advance compared with the period just
before the war is slow, if not an actual retrogression;
he is not a large taxpayer, and in addition holds no con
spicuous place in the business world, or the world of letters, and
even as a working man seems to be losing ground. For these
reasons, those who, for one purpose and another, are anxiously
watching the development of the American negro, desire to
know first how far these general impressions are true, what
the real condition of the negro is, and what movements would
best be undertaken to improve the present situation."
CHAPTER XXIII.
EN PASSANT.
SOME reference has been made in the preceding pages to
the differences in opinion held by Dr. Washington and
Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, as to the solution of the negro
problem. The latter belonged to a faction which disputed to
the end the leadership of the " man of Tuskegee," not because
they did not recognize the good he had accomplished, but because
they were not entirely in sympathy with his policy.
Without entering into any lengthy discussion as to differ
ences, a few points may serve to enlighten those who never
have had the matter brought to their attention. Dr. Wash
ington was an advocate of the doctrine of evolution the gra
dual rising up of his people by the slow, steady process through
work and study from the lowest to the highest level they could
qualify to reach as a race. He made no plea for social equality,
advised against " the business of politics " for members of his
race and pleaded with them to stick to the soil.
Dr. Du Bois, and others who did not entirely agree with
Dr. Washington, did recognize the common thought expressed
by the former before the congress of races in London, that the
negro must be developed both mentally and as an economic fac
tor ; but they also hold that any individual, when fully developed,
is entitled to full social and political recognition, without re
spect to race.
Shorn of all its complexities, the difference is summed up
in the statement that Dr. Washington and his followers planned
to win recognition by proving their economic value, and that
Dr. Du Bois and others sought to demand it as a matter of plain
human justice.
299
300 EN PASSANT.
It is also worthy of note that in a number of the Southern
States the right to vote is determined by economic status, and
that by reason of negroes having acquired property at the urg
ing of Dr. Washington, many of them have qualified for fran
chise ; reversely, some who have been fairly well educated in an
academic sense, but who have not chosen to follow farming and
obtain property, have been classed with the ineligibles, though
in the ordinary sense they were mentally superior to the poor
farmer who struggled and saved to acquire a few acres of land.
BETTER OFF AND BETTER OUTLOOK.
In order to compare the condition of the negro in America
with the condition of people occupying relative positions in many
foreign countries, Dr. Washington on his last trip abroad made
an extended investigation of the working conditions, as the
result of which he made the declaration that the colored man in
America was better off than most of the lower classes abroad
and had a better outlook.
In a series of articles dealing with labor problems and the
political aspects as he found them, Dr. Washington devoted
considerable attention to the women and child workers and des
cribed the immigrant who comes to America to the advantage
generally of the negro by comparison.
Dr. Washington was also largely responsible, as the result
of his various inquiries as to conditions abroad, and particularly
with relation to the negro, for the formation of an International
Negro Conference, which met for the first time at Tuskegee, in
1912. Representatives from a number of foreign countries
and colonies, as well as prominent educators and sociologists,
attended the meeting, which signalized the opening of a new
field of co-operation for those interested in the study of the
negro and his development.
EN PASSANT. 301
While making his investigations abroad, it may incident
ally be mentioned, as an indication of the recognition which Dr.
Washington received as a leader among industrial educators,
that he was entertained by the Danish Royalty, and highly
honored.
It is of interest as showing the many angles from which
the race question can be discussed that early in December, 1915,
Dr. Du Bois, in an address in Rochester, New York that haven
of refuge for many slaves and negroes during and prior to
the war, including Frederick Douglass, the statesman declared
that the right to rule and exploit negroes is what the European
nations were fighting for. In the public press he was quoted
as saying:
WAR SPIRIT NOT ON NATIONAL LINES.
"Why is the world fighting to-day? This is not a war
between races, because the protagonists, England and Germany
are of the same race. It cannot even be regarded as a fight
between sub-races, despite antipathy between Slav and Teuton,
the Latin and Nordic people. It is not in any strict sense a
war between nations, because the aggregations of fighting
groups sweep far beyond national lines.
" There is to be sure, the shadow of a war of races looming
in the distance and it glooms about the color line. We see the
antagonism of color belting the human world but this present
war is between whites. Yet it is based on the very antagonisms
of color which I have mentioned and may well be the prophecy
of greater strife to come unless we sense the danger.
:{ Europe to-day is fighting to settle the question of leader
ship in the world of subject and inferior peoples. The pre-em
inence of England and France as colonists is being challenged
by Teutonic Europe. They are fighting for a 'place in the
302 EN PASSANT.
sun/ which means they are fighting for the right to rule and ex
ploit the unprotected by the revolt of their own working people
and the political power back of this revolt.
" This makes exploitations at home difficult, but it does
not stop ' Imperial exploitation ' abroad. If now we take the
greater ' preparedness ' for our programme, how shall we so
prepare as to stop war in the future? Manifestly, we must set
it down as the first axiom that a war between races and colors
must not occur. To stop such a contingency we must cease the
exploitation and murder of the darker races. The moment
we do this we take away one of the main reasons for war which
lie back of the present organized murder. It is thus that the
abolition of race prejudice becomes to-day the greatest pro
gramme for peace."
MANY OPPORTUNITIES BEFORE HIM.
If such a thing were shown to be true it would but add weight
to Dr. Washington's contention that as an American citizen
the negro was at an advantage and had many opportunties be
fore him.
The mills of difference usually grind out much that is of
use to the world, and those who differed with Dr. Washington
only served to attract attention to the success which he achieved.
It was one of the signs of advancement that his death called
forth expressions of opinion from many leading negroes that
indicated they were cognizant of some of the weaknesses of
their people, while fully appreciating the progress which the race
was making.
From the day of its inception the history of Tuskegee, and
its financing, was inseparable with the efforts of a large number
of white philanthropists and financiers to help the negro. It
was their support which made Dr. Washington's work possible,
EN PASSANT. 303
in a great measure. Many of the negroes recognized this, as
when in the memorial service held in the big Wanamaker Store
in Philadelphia, leading members of the race paid a tribute to
Robert C. Ogden, and declared that he was the man who, by
his support and co-operation, enabled Dr. Washington to achieve
his early success.
The following excerpt from an editorial in the Philadelphia
Tribune, one of the strongest negro publications in the North,
touching on the proposed erection of a monument to Dr. Wash
ington, throws some interesting light on this question of the
negro helping his own:
LEADER OF AFRO ' AMERICAN PEOPLE.
" In discussing the question of his successor, one of the
trustees declared recently, that it would be an easier matter to
find a man to succeed Dr. Washington as principal of Tuskegee
than to find a man to succeed him as leader of the Afro- Ameri
can people. There is more truth in that saying than usually ap
pears in such sayings, because the principalship of Tuskegee
Institute and the leadership of the Afro- American people are not
the same, and when separated by the death of Dr. Washington,
who united the two in one, partly, in himself, they are as sepa
rate as the hand as to the one part and as the fingers as the four
parts. That is to say, it is cutting off the thumb to go its way
and leaving the four digits to go theirs."
" Dr. Washington built his monument when he built Tus
kegee Institute, and his admirers and friends can best perpet
uate his memory by perpetuating Tuskegee Institute and its
work. The students who have gone out from the Institute have
been examples and teachers of the self-help. Dr. Washington
preached as the gospel of redemption that would not fail the
race in its hours of trial. This gospel of self-help can best
304 EN PASSANT.
be carried to the people by students who shall go forth from year
to year to take the places of those students who have gone be
fore them and finished their work, because the old order and the
old workers change all of the time and must be replaced by the
new order and the new workers, or the work planned by the
Master-Builder of Tuskegee Institute will ultimately fail. There
is abundant need in the Southern States that it shall not fail.
WHITE MEN FINANCE HIS WORK.
' We do not look for any leader of the Afro- American
people to take the place of Dr. Washington until such time
as the race is able and willing to pay for such leadership. It
has not been ready and willing to do so, and has not done so,
at any time since the war. Dr. Washington was fortunate
in being able to get rich white men to finance not only Tuskegee
Institute, but all of the other agencies needful in his work of
leadership ; great white men, in sympathy with Dr. Washington
and his work, such as Dr. Seth Low, Mr. Andrew Carnegie,
Mr. W. H. Baldwin, Jr., Mr. H. H. Rogers, Mr. George Foster
Peabody, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Mr. Julius Rosenwald and
others too numerous to mention; men who had confidence in
Dr. Washington, and who backed him in all that he suggested
as good and needful to be done for the uplift of the Afro- Amer
ican people. It is not a pleasant fact, but it is a fact, that the
Afro- American people contributed mighty little of the vast sums
of money that Dr. Washington needed in his work as principal
of Tuskegee Institute and leader of the Afro- American people.
" Dr. Washington built his monument in the visible Tuske
gee Institute and the invisible admiration of the multitudes who
believed in him and in his leadership"
Dr. Washington's advice to the members of his race to not
meddle with politics and not seek for recognition in this direc-
EN PASSANT. 305
tion was responsible for a large amount of the criticism of his
race which was directed against him. In fact, he was declared,
by some of the bitterest opponents, to have been largely res
ponsible for the practical disfranchisement of his race in some
of the Southern States, by reason of his urging them not to
fight for political recognition but to first win recognition by
proving economic worth.
JUST LEGISLATION TO THE NEGRO.
While as an individual he made it very apparent that he
had no political ambitions, Dr. Washington very early made it
clear that he had as high regard for the political rights of the
members of his race as anyone, and on various occasions issued
open letters and submitted his views to the press and to states
men, at the same time urging the adoption of such legislation as
would prove just to the negro.
For instance, as an answer to the criticism that has been
directed against him on this score, it is of record that he sent
open letters to the Louisiana State Constitutional Convention,
and previous to the State Constitutional Convention of South
Carolina, concerning the passage of law which he conceived
would disfranchise the greater portion of the negro voters.
The letter to the Louisiana Convention was sent out by the
Associated Press and widely quoted and commented upon. As
showing his attitude it is reproduced in part :
" In addressing you this letter I know that I am running
the risk of appearing to meddle with something that does not
concern me. But since I know that nothing but love for our
beautiful Southland which I hold as near my heart as any of
you can and a sincere love for every black man and every white
man within her borders is the only thing actuating me to write.
20-W
306 EN PASSANT.
I am willing to be misjudged, if need be, if I can accomplish a
little good.
" But I do not believe that you, gentlemen of the convention,
will misinterpret my motives. What I shall say will, I believe,
be considered in the same spirit in which I write it.
" I am no politician ; on the other hand, I have always ad
vised my race to give attention to acquiring property, intelli
gence and character, as the basis of good citizenship, rather than
to mere political agitation. But the question upon which I write
is out of the region of ordinary politics ; it affects the civiliza
tion of two races, not for to-day alone, but for a very long time
to come; it is up in the region of duty of man to man of Chris
tian to Christian.
GOOD FOR WHITE AND BLACK ALIKE.
" Since the war, no State has had such an opportunity to
settle for all time the race question, so far as it concerns politics,
as is given now in Louisiana. Will your Convention set an ex
ample to the world in this respect? Will Louisiana take such
high and just ground in respect to the negro that no one can
doubt that the South is as good a friend to the negro as he pos
sesses elsewhere? In all this, gentlemen of the convention, 
